Last night we were invited over to the Dockery’s for dinner. It was such a huge blessing! It was so nice to just have an evening of fellowship.

Their kitchen and living room have hardwood floors. Absolutely beautiful! I had to laugh as Little man and their little girl chased each other around the room. Poor Little man would fall and bonk his head on the floor and just cry and cry. At home, with carpet, he falls, and gets up with very little crying. Their little girl, on the other hand, would fall on the hardwood floors and just get back up. Yup – children are made of rubber.

It was such a blessing to have Andy visit for the weekend! We had a lot of fun just talking and watching Andy play with Little man.

He and Andy played in the pool for about an hour on Saturday. There’s 40 or so pictures of their adventures in the Gallery. Here’s a couple of my favorites.

Then I got another picture right before church Sunday morning. I just love it!

We have really been enjoying having Andy here! Last night, we were all just sitting in the living room while Little man was playing. I was concentrating on something, and was pretty much ignoring what he was doing until Stephen told me to look what he was doing.

He had found Andy’s coolers sitting near the freezer, and climbed right in! He sat there playing for almost 10 minutes.

Then today during lunch he was whining because he wanted to touch the ketchup bottle. I don’t know if it was because the bottle was just out of his reach or what, but he sure was thrilled when we handed the bottle to him!

There’s more pictures in the gallery!

You can view more in the Gallery. I also added more flower pictures in the garden folder.

Little man had such a high fever yesterday! Today he had no fever at all, but he’s still cranky. Our solution? We put him in the pool! We wouldn’t have done it if he still had a fever, but since it was gone, in he went. We figured that playing in the pool might distract him and wear him out a little bit, so he could get another good nap in.

So stay tuned for pictures! I’m in the process of putting them on the computer and in the gallery right now, but I have a student coming soon, so I won’t get it done before she gets here.

I woke up to breakfast in bed this morning. What a sweet husband I have! A few minutes later, I heard him on the phone to his boss. When Stephen got off the phone, he told me he wasn’t needed at work for the rest of the week.

I started praying. It’s the end of the month. We have huge bills. I’m not even sure how we’re going to pay them. Yesterday I had so much peace about everything! So I started praying. God’s Word says that He will provide, so I started asking God to do just that. Both Stephen and I were very discouraged about our money situation.

Then I sat down to read my Bible. I turned to Psalm 20. The words there just leaped off the page at me.

Psalm 20
1 The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee;
2 Send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion;
3 Remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice; Selah.
4 Grant thee according to thine own heart, and fulfil all thy counsel.
5 We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the LORD fulfil all thy petitions.
6 Now know I that the LORD saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand.
7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.
8 They are brought down and fallen: but we are risen, and stand upright.
9 Save, LORD: let the king hear us when we call.

How’s that for a confirmation that God hears our prayers? I couldn’t believe it! The words were as clear as if God had spoken them audibly to me. Then I turned to Psalm 50 to continue reading. Again, verses literally stood out from the page.

Psalm 50:7-15
7 Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against thee: I am God, even thy God.
8 I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices or thy burnt offerings, to have been continually before me.
9 I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor he goats out of thy folds.
10 For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.
11 I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.
13 Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?
14 Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High:
15 And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.

Whoever called the Bible the Living Word was right! I read a few more chapters, and bowed my head to pray.

While I was praying that God would provide, Stephen’s cell phone rang. It was sitting on the table next to me, so I answered it. It was Mike – Stephen’s boss – calling him to have him come in to work today. I hadn’t even finished praying yet!

But God chose to answer my prayers this morning in a mighty way. Do we have more money in our bank account? No. Do I know where the money will come from for our car insurance due in three weeks? No. But I do know for a fact that God will provide for us!

There are so many things I’m learning about faith lately. This morning as I read my Bible, I came across 2 Peter 1:5-10.

2 Peter 1:5-10
5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:

It really made me think. I spoke briefly on this passage at our Mother Daughter Lunch this year. Once again I found myself going back to the very beginning of those verses. “Add to your faith…” If I have to add all these things to my faith, then what is faith? What is the starting place? Almost immediately Hebrews 11:1 came to mind.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

I started trying to draw a parallel, a way to understand the verse further. I thought about how we have faith in an object – like having faith that the chair I sit in will support my weight. I also thought about how we can have faith in faulty objects – like when we sit in a chair, thinking it will hold us, and it breaks. But I still didn’t think my comparison was accurate.

My mind wandered a little as I realized that Little man would be waking up soon. Then it occured to me. Last night I came home from my secret shop and was eating my sub. Little man walked over to me, seeing that I was eating, and demanded some. Now he can’t talk much yet, but he sure made his wishes known. He stood there by my chair and held my skirt, and just whined and even yelled and screamed.

That’s when it hit me. I’m just like he was.

I’ve already asked God to answer my prayers. He’s heard me. He knows the desire of my heart. But what good does it do if I just stand there and yell and scream and whine? That’s not going to change God’s answer. Just like last night with Little man. He couldn’t eat my sandwich, as much as he wanted it. He didn’t know that though. I wouldn’t give Little man what he wanted because I had a good reason. I knew what was best for him. I know God has a reason for not answering my prayers the way I want Him to. Maybe there’s something else I need to learn, or maybe I need to grow some more before God answers the prayer I’ve been praying for so long.

I couldn’t figure out why Little man would want my food, when he had just eaten dinner. Why wasn’t he satisfied with what he ate? And again, I’m reminded of my own life. I have a beautiful one-year-old son through the miracle of adoption. Yet, instead of being satisfied with the blessing God has given me, I yell and whine and cry for another.

Kinda humbling thought, if you ask me.

Will that desire for another baby ever go away? I don’t know. I doubt it. But I know that God has heard my prayers, and He will answer them in His own way in His timing.

Never thought I’d say that I’m just like my son…

I got one of my favorite emails today. “Mystery shop available in your town” YAY! This time it was for my all-time favorite “fast-food” store. They offer huge waves of these shops at a time, but only a couple times a year. So I was quite thrilled to see that it’s back.

So I signed right up to do one for dinner tonight. (Takes long sip of root beer) I was pleasantly suprised to open up my paperwork and find that the questionnaire was not the usual 6-8 pages, but only 4 pages! I left the house, performed the shop, came home and ate the sandwich, submitted the shop online – all in less than 2 hours. That’s pretty good. Especially if you consider that 40 minutes of that was driving time. :)

Now, if I can actually go to sleep tonight. That root beer had caffeine in it!

Well….we’re in for it now! Little man has figured out how to climb on things. The other day he figured out how to get in his wagon, then climb up onto the couch from there. Then yesterday he was swinging on the ottoman. Today he stepped on a toy to get onto the couch – then he just stood there looking out the window watching the neighbor boy ride his scooter up and down the road.

I think we better keep a close eye on him now!

Rather than put all the pictures here, check out the photo gallery for the pictures from Saturday’s get-together with Melinda and her kids. Austin and Ryleigh are a hoot! Go here to see the family pictures.

I took some pictures of Little man yesterday though. I just love pictures of him at the piano!