The power of a song

I will never cease to be amazed at the working of the Lord in my children's hearts.  It's not that I don't believe that God can and will work in their hearts, it's just that the daily responsibility of dealing with bad attitudes, disobedience, and disrespect can make us all lose perspective at times.

The other night, as I prepared the children for bed, I was reminded once again about the amazing Sovereign power and grace of our Lord. Josiah had a particularly trying day. Earlier that week, he cashed in his piggy bank money and purchased a new Lego set online. It was expected to arrive that day, but morning passed into afternoon, afternoon into nighttime and no Lego set arrived. For a 4 year old who had already waited over a week, waiting an entire day and not receiving it when it was supposed to come was devastating.

This resulted in impatience and rudeness spilling out of Jo.  We easily saw it as a character building moment for him. He just saw it as disappointment and sadness.

Back to our bedtime routine, as Josiah waited for Abby and I to join him in the bed for our prayer time, I over heard him singing a song.

"All I know is that I'm not home yet. This is not where I belong."

The song by Building 429, Where I Belong.

Joining him, I asked him, "do you know what that song means?"  Almost instantly, Josiah's demeanor changed. With a joyful smile he responded, "Yes!! It means this is not our home but our real home is in Heaven with Jesus!! And we get to play with Jesus ALL day long!"

We then proceeded to have a 5 minute discussion about all the wonderful things about Heaven. Streets paved in gold. Thousands of toys and playing with Jesus all day. No worries of getting hit by cars on those gold-laden streets. Never having to go to bed. Living forever. No sadness. No fear. No monsters.

And right before my very eyes, my sourpuss changed. The Lord was doing an amazing work in his heart, and you could sense and feel all the frustration and strife from the day melting away. Not only that, but the Lord was using Josiah to minister to me. So often it's easy to lose perspective of our day and get caught up in all our troubles and trials. I was brought to tears when I paused for those 10 minutes with my son and really processed with him the wonder and glory of our true home in heaven.  It always puts everything into perspective to be reminded that where we are is only temporary, but we have an eternal home to look forward to.

So it all started with the power of a song. Those words the Lord used, not just to change Josiah's heart but also mine. What a good God we serve.

**the Lego set finally arrived!!

It's better to give than to receive

I will continually be amazed at the capacity for compassion and tenderness I see so often in children, especially those of a young age.  So many times, we as parents (Bryan & I, that is) breeze by each day, focusing on the duties in life rather than life itself.  Laundry, check. Dinner, check. PJ's on, check. Teeth brushed, check.  But ever so often comes a moment like today, where you know and sense the Holy Spirit working on the heart of your child. 

In the book of Acts, we learn that Jesus says "It is more blessed to give than to receive."  Today we got to see this principle come to life in the heart of Josiah.  When Bryan picked Josiah up from pre-K today, one of his classmates was distraught that he had missed his chance to purchase a book from the Scholastic book fair.  The rest of the day passed--mostly uneventful, though particularly trying for us.  Josiah was fighting most of the afternoon and discouraged because he felt like he just couldn't do anything right.  On days when we battle this discouragement in him, the day often ends heavy, with many tears and prayers that Josiah would truly know the love of Christ for him--not based on what he can do or based on his perfection, but just because He chooses to love Josiah. 

So this day was playing out like many others.  Us looking at the clock just waiting, and looking with relief, towards bedtime.  But to our surprise, tonight ended on a much different note.  Josiah explained to me what had happened during pick-up time at school.  How his little friend was sad because he had missed the book fair. 

And out of nowhere, Josiah asked, "Mommy, maybe we could give D one of our book fair books?  Well, I don't know.  I'm just thinking about it." 

Wanting it to come out a genuine place in his heart, I gently encouraged the idea, but was careful not to pressure. 

Five minutes later.  "Mommy, I have 4 books from the book fair, so I don't need them all.  I can give one of them away."  Yes, I said that was a great idea.  We immediately found his four books and he picked out which one to give.  Touched by his generous heart, I was still hesitant as to whether he would change his mind. 

Bryan and I explained to him how this was a great way to show the love of Christ to his friend.  "Yes!" Josiah exclaimed.  "Because Jesus loves me.  And you love me. And I love D!"

Josiah immediately put the book in his backpack for school the next day.  Grinning from ear to ear, you could clearly see the Holy Spirit's work on his heart.  Josiah was tasting that it truly is more blessed to give than to receive.  "I'm so happy!" he exclaimed.

And aren't Josiah's words so fitting for us all.  God loves us. Jesus loves us. And it's that love that enables us to love others.

Happy Anniversary to Bryan: Promising to always "Fall Forward"

Today Bryan and I celebrate 7 years of marriage.  It's amazing how quickly these 7 years have passed by.  Along the way, we've had our fair share of challenges but also many victories as we've learned to work together as a team.  Today I thank God for a man that still chooses me, in spite of the reality of who I am in my ugliest moments.  A man who promises to stand by his commitment, regardless of how he may feel on any given day.  A man who still cherishes me, calls me his beautiful bride, and esteems me for the God-given value he sees inside of me.

I recently read a book called Sacred Marriage, by Gary Thomas.  Below is an excerpt about what it means to "fall forward" in our marriage.  I love this illustration about what it means to fall toward our spouse.

"Many years ago, I and a few close friends celebrated our high school graduation by hiking on Mount Rainier.  Before I attempted to jump a fast-moving creek, one of my friends advised me, "Just make sure you fall forward."  The advice was well heeded.  Even if I didn't make the jump, as long as I kept my momentum going forward, I wouldn't be swept into the stream.

The advice has stayed with me down through the years, as I believe that Christian marriage is also about learning to fall forward.  Obstacles arise, anger flares up, and weariness dulls our feelings and our senses.  When this happens the spiritually immature respond by pulling back, becoming more distant from their spouse, or even seeking to start over with somebody "more exciting."  Yet maturity is reached by continuing to more forward past the pain and apathy. Falls are inevitable.  We can't control that, but we can control the direction in which we fall--toward or away from our spouse."

Thank God that we choose daily to fall forward.  Bryan, thank you for always standing by my side and choosing to fall forward!  Happy anniversary, honey, to the man I love and my best friend!  Thank you for making life fun, exciting, and challenging at times (which is needed for my stubborn-self!).  I really don't think I had any idea 7 years ago how exactly perfect you are for me when I said "I do."  I have never regretted that decision, and I too choose you still today!  I'm excited for many more years to come!  Here's to a lifetime of falling forward with you!

February 2013 Blizzard

We had our first big snowstorm of the year!  Even though Jo is feeling a little under the weather, he insisted that we venture out.  And this was Abby's first real time playing in the glorious snow.  I have to admit that I LOVE it when it snows this much in the city.  NYC becomes dazzling--white, glistenting, and beautiful.  The cold hardly bothers you when its so beautiful outside!

All bundled up and ready to go!

 



Looking south down Manhattan Avenue in our neighborhood

 



Glistening trees, snow covered cars--what's not to love!

 



Walking to Morningside Park

 



Beautiful sky--in awe of the glory of God's creation!

 



Daddy lifting Abby's little body over the snow mounds

 



Jo buried himself in the snow

 



Abby holding her own--walking through at least 10 inches of snow!

 



Abby thoroughly enjoying herself

 



Sitting on a snow mound in Morningside Park

 

Letting go of expectations....

Today was just one of those days.  A day where everything seemed like an uphill battle. 

It started out seemingly normal, except for some mild crankiness from our oldest.  Crankiness turned into whining (Oh! How I deplore whining!).  Whining into crying.  Crying into rudeness, talking back, and a general mean-spirit.  This resulted in Josiah spending much of the morning sitting in the corner, sulking, and waiting for his heart to change.  All this before Daddy whisked out the door for a full day of meetings. 

Alas, the heart did change, though the sulkiness somehow remained.  Expectation #1:  A true heart change results in a happy, easy to care for child.  WRONG!  While Josiah did repent for his bad attitude, his sulkiness remained.  Thankfully, in this moment during the day, I did indeed listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit.  I asked.  I dug.  I nudged.  And I finally uncovered what his little spirit was wrestling with.  He missed his Grandma & Granddaddy from North Carolina.  He had to say goodbye to them on Sunday as we traveled back to NY.  And to him, saying goodbye meant "I'll never see you again." 

Its moments like this today where God is teaching me a valuable lesson.  My life isn't about my agenda.  It isn't about my expectations.  It isn't really about me at all.  But its about learning to live sacrificially.  Learning to love sacrificially.  Did I have other plans for this morning?  YOU BET!  Did I really want to deal with a difficult child most of the day?  DEFINITELY NOT!  Do I like being inconvenienced?  ABSOLUTELY NOT!  But it's not about me.  It's not about living for myself, but demonstrating God's love to my children.  So here's to letting go of my own expectations.  Letting go of my own ideas on how the day should go (which can often be unrealistic).  Letting go of what I think is the necessary agenda, and letting God's agenda play out instead. 

Abby, Jojo, and Granddaddy

Abby & Grandma

 

Jojo and his two cousins, Shaina & Lea

So long October, hello November

Wow, has it really been over a month since we last posted?  Much has happened in that short period of time.  October always proves to be one of the busiest months of the year for us.  Two birthdays in our immediate family (Josiah turned 4, Bryan turned 36), 3 birthdays in our extended family (Mama Scott, Lisha-Bryan's sister, and Joshua-our nephew), 5 doctor appointments scheduled for just this month for our family, and then of course, Hurricane Sandy. 

This has by far been one of the most memorable Octobers for us in years--and that is probably the case for most in the Northeast.  Seeing the devastation from Hurricane Sandy has been heartbreaking.  We've seen Josiah even respond to the weight of this storm & its aftermath.  And we are so thankful that in the midst of it all, God is our hope forever and always; He is the rock that makes all our footings firm!

October also represents a milestone for me in that my first baby..... really isn't a baby anymore.  Josiah IS officially, officially a big boy.  Not only is his independence growing day by day, but in 10 months he will begin kindergarten.  Wow.  Makes me treasure my days at home with him all the more.

Well, finally our birthday post to our sweet son Josiah!  Josiah, you continue to amaze us everyday with your generous heart, your fierce competitive spirit, and your love for games, knowledge, and fun.  Happy birthday (well, on October 11th) to our baby boy!

As part of his birthday celebration, Josiah and I went to Eleni's Bakery--a nut-free bakery in NYC!  Josiah LOVED these fancy cookies from the Upper East Side.  Delish!

  

One of our close college friends spent the day with us on Josiah's birthday!  He loved all the extra attention from Christine--and the awesome dinosaurs! We love you Christine!

 And of course, Grandma Kim wanted to make sure we got Abby her own gift as well--a baby doll stroller! (and its a good thing we did!  As we found out on Bryan's birthday, Abigail threw a fierce fit when she was not allowed to open Bryan's gift!)

 Josiah excited to receive his lego sets from Mommy & Daddy.

 

 Big boy put together his ambulance with very little help from me! Way to go!

 Preparing for Josiah's birthday party a couple of days later.

 Our sweet guy with his German Chocolate birthday cake! YUM!

His birthday buddies--Aiden & Samuel.

Thanks to all our family and friends for making Josiah feel so loved & blessed during his birthday week!

Well, so long for now...and happy election day!

Some recent videos of Abby

Here are some recent videos of Abby.  It seems like there is always more to video when your kids are younger versus older--sorry Jo!  I've been meaning to upload these since last month--you know how that goes.  Well, better late than never!

Here's one of Abby singing.  She LOVES to sing!  She has even begun singing along with the worship songs we play in the car.

Here she was last month singing her ABCs. 

 

 Here's a cute one of her jumping--attempting too that is!  She can actually get both feet off the ground now!

 

And lastly, Abby talking.  Sorry to bore all you non-family members out there with so many videos of our kids! =)

My ears are hurting!

Do any of you have a screamer?  If you do, I know you'll sympathize with us.  We are PRAYING TO GOD that this is just a new phase for Abigail.  Can you hear the desperation in my writing voice???

Yes, you may remember from previous posts that Abigail has already asserted herself as a screamer.  And we were managing.  Correcting, telling her no, redirecting, time-outs, you name it!  Was it annoying?  Yes.  But did we feel like we had it at least in a manageable state?  Yes.

Ask us these questions now.  Is it manageable?  NO! NO! NO!  Abby has recently amplified her screaming.  And mind you, she was ALREADY loud.  Now, she screams so loud that my ears ring for hours afterwards and I swear they almost started to bleed once.  (Okay, the bleeding part is a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the gist).  And you know what, it really is starting to DRIVE ME NUTS!  Even calm and patient Bryan is starting to become unnerved by her blood-curdling, ear-piercing, screaming!

No condemning or correcting advice needed.  But, if you are ever with us and you hear a horrid sound coming from our youngest child--rest assured--we are just as irritated about it as you! 

Thankfully, despite all the screaming and pounding headaches I end up with, Abigail Joy is living up to her name--she truly is such a joyful little girl!  We love her to pieces--but seriously wish she would stop screaming.

What's not to love here?

Following in Daddy's footsteps

Don't little girls usually like following in their mommies' footsteps?  Well, probably not all.  I was definitely a Daddy's little girl myself.  So I guess its not surprising that Abby LOVES her daddy's shoes & slippers.

 Here, she had just learned to put them on correctly.  Quite a "feet" for the little one! haha! I crack myself up.

 Here, she found Daddy's snow boats tucked away in a cubbyhole.  They are heavy and clunky, but that didn't stop her from getting them on her feet and walking around with them! Typical of Abby, when I asked her to put them back, she picked up both shoes, started running, and threw them on the sofa at the other end of our apartment.  What a little stinker!

The Joy of Siblings

Now that Abigail is getting older, it has truly been a joy to see Josiah and Abigail interact.  They actually enjoy playing with one another for at least some part of the day (other parts of the day are filled with screams, tears, grabbing, throwing toys, and yells of "NO!"--and the occasional full force pushing/hitting).  We thought we'd share some highlight moments--and yes, these are "highlights".  Don't think that life with siblings is always so peachy! ha!

Greatest toy EVER.  The cardboard BOX.  This has probably been the most played with "toy" all summer (even though I've tried throwing it out almost every week). 

 

Playing in the box together.

"Hi!  I'm Dr. Scott.  Abigail, can you open your mouth for me?  Say AHHH!"

"Okay.  Hold still.  I'm going to use my otoscope to look in your ear."  And Abby loved every moment of being Josiah's patient!!

Watching TV together in the morning.  Abby always run to sit next to her brother on the sofa.

Josiah let Abby play with his precious foosball table! 

 

And here's Abby copying her older brother.  He had been telling his version of "knock knock" jokes--and she was copying his every word and move!

Over the river and through the woods....

It's clearly been a long time since our last post.  We are already half-way through summer, and the new school year is fast approaching.  How have we spent our summer?  Busy, as usual.  But this year has also been, surprisingly, more relaxing than most.  Maybe we've just learned by now how to actually take advantage of time to rest and take a some-what "break" from the ministry. 

We recently returned from visiting Grandma & Granddaddy Scott in North Carolina.  Our kids had a BLAST!  Josiah was in fact, quite distraught over leaving.  Poor little guy.  The kids adored Grandma & Granddaddy's new dogs--especially Josiah, who took every opportunity he could to boss those two puppies around (which gave Abby a nice respite from her, at times, overly-bossy brother).  Highlights from this trip include Bryan getting to officiate the wedding of his brother, Kevin, time in the inflatable pool (some perks of suburban life), and of course, just spending ample amounts of quality time with Grandma & Granddaddy. 

Here are the kids playing in our $8.00 inflatable pool from Wal-Mart.

More pictures of our time in NC.  Josiah and Daddy having fun with cups!

 Abby being silly.  She is turning into quite the clown--always trying to get a laugh.

Here is Abby playing with her Granddaddy!

And lastly, Bryan officiating the wedding of his older brother Kevin!  Congrats to Kevin & Toni!

The thinking of little minds

Any parent of a preschooler will tell you how amazed they are by what their child comes up with or says.  It really is amazing to witness the development of a little soul--to see them formulate their own opinions and to test hypotheses, to see them question why the world works.  I am often in awe of how the Lord designed our children to receive such an imprint from parents on how they view the world.  What an awesome (and sometimes terrifying) responsibility.

I have had many such occasions to see Josiah's little mind work, listening to Josiah explain the world through his eyes.  Sometimes, the pictures he paints are imbalanced, but other times we are just captivated by the sweetness and tenderness of his heart.

As I always like to keep things real, I will start with the imbalanced side.  Josiah, as of late, acts as if he knows everything (my apologies in advance for any adult out there he may have corrected or will correct in the near future!!)  Even when we remind him that he doesn't know everything (hey, we need to instill humility in this kid!!), he says, with most earnestness.... "but mom, I do know some things.  Like cars, balls, chairs....." and it just goes on and on.  He is most assuredly confident.  Competition is also his driving force.  Out of nowhere, he makes comments like

                 "Mom, I'm faster than you and Abigail." 
                 "Mom, I have more shirts than person X." 
                 Or "Mom, I snap louder than ALL my friends." 

My favorite is when he makes comments to his Daddy in a similar fashion "Daddy, I'm more fast than you".  Bryan's response:  "No you aren't" (quite matter-of-factly, then Bryan walks away--and for those of you who know Bryan well, you'll definitely appreciate that!).  Did I mention that Bryan is also driven by competition?

He also has begun pointing out things in others.  Like the time we were walking in our neighborhood, and a local homeless guy walked by.  At the top of his lungs, Josiah stated "EEEWWWW!!!  WHAT'S THAT SMELL??????"  Or when we have guests over, Josiah is quick to notice when they aren't giving him their full attention.  "MOM, how come they aren't listening to me?" (Said in front of said guests). 

We've also been bumping up against Josiah's strong internal sense of JUSTICE.  And boy have we been having battles.  If Josiah hears frustration in our voice or if we raise our voice too much when admonishing him, the crusader in him ignites.  Its as if Josiah turns into a revolutionary, fighting for the rights of all the 3-year-olds in the world.  His response "NO MOMMY.  NO. NO. NO.  STOP!" (In a 'how dare you speak to me in that tone' voice).  Or when Abigail takes a toy from him--what is his initial response?  An eye for an eye, of course!!  That's JUSTICE after all isn't it? 

Even though we see the areas of struggle and refinement still needed, we also see how God has uniquely crafted this little guy.  It's clear that Josiah has a tender heart for those less fortunate.  He is constantly referencing how other boys and girls may not have as many toys as him, and how he is thankful for what he has.  He is also extremely empathetic, and will often be the first to offer comfort in our family when someone is sad.  We really believe that his strong sense of justice will come into play years down the road--as Josiah fights some horrendous societal ill.  And even his competitive spirit!  Having seen what an asset that is in Bryan and what an amazing strength, we are so thankful that the Lord has instilled in Josiah such an internal drive to push harder, push farther, and to never give up. 

Josiah's playdoh masterpiece.  Look carefully, and you'll notice how detail-oriented this kid is! Yes, the balls are in straight lines and color-coded.  Makes a Mama proud! =)



















This was my first real attempt to french braid Abby's hair.  And even though she is in a chair, she constantly moves her head back and forth!


And here are some quick favorites.  Abby being silly (which she is becoming more and more every day--we are LOVING this!), and the last one of Jo and Abby before Randy & Selene's wedding.