I Love My Boys

God is so extremely good to give me these 2 boys - My hubby and my baby. I love them dearly and praise God for them!

Psalm 107:1 - "Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!"

Parenting

I've started reading through "Shepherding a Child's Heart" again. A friend of mine and I are going through it together. I read it once before when I was pregnant, and it definitely takes on a new meaning now that we have a child. Tripp says that the person my child will become is the product of 2 things - life experience and how he interacts with that experience. He said, "You must be concerned with providing the most stable shaping influences, but you may never suppose that you are merely molding passive clay. The clay responds to shaping; it either accepts or rejects molding."

What a good reminder that I can never make my child's heart respond in a certain way - he must choose to do so. Also, a good reminder to provide God-honoring shaping influences in Kendrick's life.

What a joy it is to teach this little one about our Savior. I pray his heart will be tender towards spiritual things and that he will one day come to know and love His Redeemer.

A Busy Summer

Wow, so much has happened since my last post! This post is long overdue, I know, and at the prompting of my big little brother (Chad) I am finally making time to type it. :)

We enjoyed an awesome vacation with the Johnson side in Colorado for a week in May. After a long drive home we learned that our beloved Pastor's family was leaving us to pastor their home church in Oregon . . . what sad news! Our families enjoyed some final Iowa moments together:

Slaughters, you are deeply missed, but we are very excited for your new ministry in Oregon!

At the end of June Kyle made a trip to NY for Isaac & Amanda's wedding, and Kendrick stayed home to help me celebrate my birthday. The next big event of our summer was the 4th of July. Kendrick enjoyed his first parade, a trip to the zoo, a concert at the Capitol and a Tea Party.

After all of this excitement, I had the opportunity to counsel our Jr. High girls at IRBC - what fun! Mom so graciously volunteered to help Kyle with Kendrick that week, and he had a blast with his grandparents and Uncle Curtis. Upon arriving home from camp, we began to prepare for our trip out to NY for Micah's wedding. Kyle was a groomsman, and we had a great time driving out and back. God allowed us to see many friends and family and to do a little sight-seeing during our drive.

With all of the changes and extra activities that have taken place in our lives this summer it has been tempting to doubt God's sufficiency and to attempt to accomplish things in my own strength. God keeps bringing me back to 2 Corinthians 3:5 - "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God."

Vacation is Coming . . .

We took this "family" picture at graduation, but were very much missing Chad, Erica, Isaac & Lynn. Well . . . in just 10 days we will ALL be vacationing in Colorado - yay!! I was talking with my brother Chad on the phone today and it made me miss him and his family even more. I am very much anticipating spending a week with them. Christmas was a long time ago - it's definitely time for the cousins to see each other again.

Here's a random shot of Kendrick with Kyle's hat on. I know, before we know it he'll be wearing his own graduation hat . . .

I read a really sweet quote by John Calvin on change yesterday -

"I am here subject to many changes, which may cause me to lose courage. But what of it? The Son of God is my Head, who is exempt from all change. I must, then, take confidence in Him."

Good stuff. I'm so thankful our God is exempt from change.

Unbelief

I've been reading through the book "Because He Loves Me" by Elyse Fitzpatrick (yes, Kyle, I've been working on it for the past 5 months), and it is an excellent read. In the chapter I was reading yesterday she makes the statement that unbelief is at the root of all sin. A particular paragraph resounded with my heart -

"At times we still wonder if He is really there, if He is really good, if His Word is really reliable, if He loves us. We wonder if He can make us happy."

I must admit these questions were spinning around in my mind after a few recent changes in "my" plan for our lives. I know truth. I know Jesus, or am striving to know Him, yet I am a sinner and my thoughts and desires are not yet completely aligned with His. As my husband and both of my parents would tell you, I struggle with change. Especially the type that broadsides me. The change I couldn't even see on the horizon.

But here is the beautiful truth about all of this, the truth I must keep saturating myself in:

"All the different circumstances you face are tools in the Master Sculpter's hand. He is using these tools to shape and mold you. Each trial, difficulty, joy, struggle and tragedy is a precious instrument of His love . . . God is so confident in His awesome power that as He sovereignly rules and overrules in your life, He knows He WILL accomplish the inconceivable task of recreating you to be like Christ . . . God wants to teach you that eternal happiness will be found only in Him because He alone is the fountain of true joy."

In my sinful heart of unbelief, I attempt to find my happiness in people or circumstances, instead of in my God who created me to find joy in Him. What wonderful hope I have in the Gospel - my God loves me enough that He desires to "accomplish the inconceivable task of recreating me to be like Christ." This truly is an inconceivable task.

My heart echoes the cry of the father in Mark 9:24 - "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"

Graduation

Congrats to my wonderful hubby on graduating with his Bachelor's - yay! I cannot put into words how excited and thankful I am that he is finished with school (for now). Now instead of splitting time 4 ways (family, school, church, work) he only has to split it 3 ways! I am very proud of him and thankful for the ability God gave him to excel in his studies and to finish his degree.

Of course I must post a recent Kendrick pic . . . Here is one that Aunt Elena took after he got out of his bath. What a cutie. I love him so much!

A Heavenly Perspective

One of the older ladies in our church passed away last week. She had been suffering with cancer for a little over 3 years and went home to be with the Lord. I had the opportunity to play the piano this morning at the funeral, and then Kendrick and I stayed for the dinner with the family. It's amazing how a baby can bring a smile to anyone's face. I almost didn't stay because I thought we would just be in the way, but I'm so thankful we did. I was able to talk with people that may not have otherwise spoken with me because of the baby - what a great conversation starter! :)

So today I was reminded of my need to have a Godward focus, as far as eternity is concerned. Pastor shared some verses from 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 -

"For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words."

Oh how I long for this day - when we will always be with the Lord! Our lives here are so short, and I often forget this. May God help us remember there is more to life than our life on earth.

Here are a few Kendrick pictures . . .

Lounging in the hammock at the Slaughters.

These next 2 are a result of Kyle's antics. For some reason he enjoys putting Kendrick in our bathroom sink . . . I have no idea why. :)