When Mommy's Away...

Shane and Silas must have played hard today. This was what Silas' room looked like when I got home from work. Silas has a bit of a virus and low-grade fever but he is still happy as can be, crawling all over, and getting into everything. I would have given anything to see all four boys (Shane, Silas, Lu, and Auggie) at play in here today!

treasu(red)

Today is a day we have been praying for and anticipating for a long time. Today some of our dearest friends have their baby Micah with them. Today, tonight, and for always. Vince and Alisa are in Ethiopia as I write. Yesterday they met Micah Yoseph for the first time. Today he stays with his mommy and daddy forever. I could cry just thinking about it.

So today Silas wore an outfit that Vince and Alisa gave to him. It is one that reminds us of Micah. It is from the Gap's (RED) campaign to fight AIDS in Africa. It was his first time to wear it. I loved it...on a day when I have been reminded too many times that we live in a world that is not as it was created to be...I looked at my baby and could not shake the Truth that we always have Hope. Hope is having a baby to hold after wondering for months if it would ever happen. And Hope is a precious baby in Africa now having a mommy and daddy.

Micah and Silas are not only treasu(red), they are also ado(red) and much desi(red). You have to take peek at that doll-baby Micah here. And when you watch the video, grab a box of kleenex first.

Oh, the ER

It is Sunday night. Shane and I spent most of the day yesterday in the ER. It was among the longest of long days.

You could say it all started when Silas and I were in Singapore. Shane started having pain in his left side one day. He went to a doctor who thought it was probably a kidney stone. Over the next few days the pain came and went, then went and did not come back. So we went on with life until Friday. The pain came back on the right side this time and was horrific. Ten times worse. But still came and went in dreadful waves. Finally, around noon on Saturday we decided something had to be done and drove to the hospital. (Sidenote: Silas in tow. Sick people everywhere. And somehow I didn't have Clorox wipes. Mercy.) Waited a couple or three hours to see the doctor. Shane was in terrible pain...until the doctor came and finally prescribed pain meds. The pain stopped before they gave Shane any medication and it never returned. He got morphine anyway.

Some very sweet friends of ours fed us dinner then, after a joyful arrival home to the pups, we all collapsed into bed.

It was not the day we had anticipated. It was not what we planned. Shane has more schoolwork to do this week than he may ever have had in one week yet. Friday and Saturday were on the calendar as major study days. And a trip to the ER was not exactly what we had budgeted for this month. Know what I mean?

As I fed Silas baby food in the waiting room (trying not to touch anything, but also trying not to think about all the germs everywhere) I asked the Lord what in the world He was up to. He knew all Shane had to do...and He knows we are still paying for school (He didn't need me to remind Him, but I did). I was hoping for some brilliant revelation as to why this was happening. But instead the Lord kept turning my thoughts back to two verses I know well...

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances,

for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?

Though He slay me, yet will I hope in Him...
Job 2:10 & 13:15

I don't know what kind of brilliant revelation I was hoping for. I think the Lord was pretty brilliant and clear in His Word. He doesn't promise ease. Walking with Him is more of a guarantee that we will be challenged. Because it is in the challenge that our own legs are crippled, forcing a dependence on God. Period.

So I started thanking the Lord in the ER. Thanking him for sweet nurses and a kind doctor. Thanking Him that we were all together. Even thanking Him that Silas napped. And I'm thanking Him tonight. Thanking Him that Shane is well and now studying. That we have friends who had us over at the last minute. That He always provides. That He is answering our prayers. We have been praying to see His hand move in our lives in a new way. We want to give more of ourselves to Him. We want to be more conformed to His image. We want to know Him deeper. Depend on Him more. And if it takes a trip to the ER for us to get there...if it takes more than that...yet will we hope in Him.

But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you,

for My power is made perfect in weakness."

Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses,

so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake,

I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.

For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Corinthians 12:8-10

Learning to Crawl

It took several attempts, but I finally caught Silas crawling on video. He is so funny and only does it now and then. But I'm sure that he will be all over the place in a few days. We got the gate up just in time!

Project Weekend

This was a weekend of projects, great and small. Grandma and Grandpa came to visit and helped us with all kinds of things around the house. One thing we did Saturday afternoon was put up a baby gate at the top of the stairs. It was super timely since WE HAVE A CRAWLER! Silas has been trying so hard to crawl all week and he finally did a few paces on his own yesterday. He has done a little bit here and there ever since. I tried time and again to get a video but we never did quite coordinate his crawling with my taping. Maybe another day. In the meantime, here is proof that the gate went up...

Grandpa Lee also lowered Silas' bed. Now that he's pulling up, too, it was time to move to the lowest setting. Grandpa took a break to take Silas on a truck drive...

Grandma and Silas had such fun with the video camera. In this picture, the camera is taping Silas and the video screen is turned so that he can watch himself. We may have to begin the conversations about pride pretty young because he loves himself...

When I found out I was pregnant, we took Judy a present with "grandma" gifts inside. One was this bib. She brought it back to us this weekend so Silas got to wear it for the first time. He does love his Grandma and Grandpa...

A Day with Two

Silas and I had a super fun day today. We had Everett over to play!
Ev and Silas have played together before but it has been a while. And I have never babysat another little one since Silas was born. I work with Everett's mom, Michelle. She watched Silas a while back so when she called to ask if Everett could come over for the afternoon, I was thrilled to return the favor. The Lord has blessed me with dear friends at work who also have little babies at home. We couldn't make it without each other: we talk babies for the most part with a bit of speech pathology chit-chat thrown in the mix, cry together, pray together, rejoice in milestones, and laugh a whole lot. Oh, girls, how do we get all our work done?

Silas and Everett had lunch, played in Silas' room for a while, napped (at the SAME TIME if you can believe it), played in the loft, and then we bundled up and sat outside on the deck to watch the puppies run around. The two boys were not that interested in each other, but they did share pretty well.

Come and play any time, Everett! We had a blast!

Beyond Our Capacity

Shane and I are living beyond our capacities this week. I was thanking the Lord this morning that we do not have to live in our own limitations but can rely on Him for ability beyond ourselves. Boy, have we needed it this week.

Silas has had such a hard time getting days and nights switched back to our home time zone. As of yesterday, I had not slept for more than 2 hours at a time since we headed home last Saturday. Yes, we are exhausted. But last night was a little better and I'm hopeful we're moving in the right direction. We were up at 5:30 this morning so the pictures are of Silas, back down for a nap just after 7:00. Who knew that naptime would ever start that early in the morning? It is almost 9:00 now and I'm heading in to get him up so that we can try to have as much awake time today as possible. It is going to be gorgeous outside today so I'm sure there will be much romping in the back yard with the pups. Hooray for springtime weather!

Props for Silas and for My Feet

Silas and I are home. Back to Daddy and puppies and...well, I wanted to say routine, but we're not even close to that. So I'll stick with we're here. Thank you for praying for us on the trip home. The Lord was gracious again to take care of every detail. I tried to be mindful of Him all along the way. I did question His judgment when I sat down for the longest flight of our trip next to two beefy gentlemen who started off the plane ride with beers and scotch. Awesome. Just what I needed was two tipsy men beside me while I nursed. But the Lord knows far better what I need. And before we hit our cruising altitude, the guys had drifted off into deep sleeps, not really to waken again before we landed. It was a glorious ride. Silas slept for about 5 hours on that plane so I watched two movies. I could hardly move my legs when he woke, but he slept and that made us both very happy. As we were deplaning, one of the guys asked if the baby was always that good. I smiled and gave Silas props. Yes, always.

But now that we're home, sleep is fleeting. Jet-lag has set in (did you notice I'm writing this at 1:45 in the morning) and Silas has only napped the past two nights. It took him five days to adjust to Singapore time, so hopefully we'll be back to normal by Thursday.

In the meantime, I'm reflecting. It was a treasure to be with my family. Reminded me that home is about people, not places or things. Home has always meant meals with my parents around their dining room table. I've propped my feet on the same place under that table for as long as I can remember. There are few things that have remained so consistent in my life. The Lord. Family. And the table. One day my parents will retire and move back to America. I don't expect the table to come with them (but there have been discussions and negotiations are still in the works - insert grin here as my parents sigh). I will miss propping my feet on that same spot. The new table will be a reminder that home is not about our stuff. It is about the Lord and people and love. It's about stories and laughs and memories. I don't need to prop my feet up for that. I just need the people I love most around me. One day soon we'll all feast together at a Table that we won't ever have to leave behind. Thank You, Jesus, that this world is not our true home. We're just passing through.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6:19-21