A mom's perspective

At night when I'm putting the kids to bed, I usually tell them a Bible story. Last night's story was the wedding at Cana. I realized how my take on the account has changed over the years. For those of you who don't know this passage, it tells of the Lord Jesus' first miracle. He was at a wedding and He changed water into wine.

Well, when I was explaining things to the kids my emphasis was a little different. I really focused on the servants who were obedient without questioning the Lord about anything. First the Lord asked them to fill the waterpots with water. They didn't ask why or complain, they just filled the waterpots. And when I say they filled the waterpots, that's not an exaggeration, they filled it to the brims.

Next the Lord Jesus asked them to take some of that same drink and serve it to the governor of the wedding. Can you imagine? They knew that it was only water in the pots, yet they obeyed. They didn't resist even though they could've had severe consequences from the "master of the wedding" as I referred to him as. 

I ended by telling them how the governor thought this was the best wine. Not only did the Lord change the water into wine, but it was better wine than normal.

Obedience was what I wanted to stress to my children. I wanted them to realize how important it is to obey at times without questioning. After they quieted down I was thinking the story over and realizing how much I could learn from that same lesson. How often do I obey without kicking and screaming? I often find myself complaining about doing what I know needs to be done. I sure am glad I have kids to teach me these things. :)

No school today!

Tabitha has already missed her fair share of school considering how early on in the year we are. However, today I didn't even think twice about keeping her home. She really only started getting symptoms yesterday, but they came in quite rapidly. Tabitha maintained a high fever beginning in the evening and lasting through the night. Her cough was a little more labored than normal and she just wasn't herself. Even her breathing seemed to be a bit difficult while she was sleeping.

The doctor listened to her lungs for quite a while and couldn't hear anything out of the normal. She said her heart rate was faster than normal and her breathing was a little on the quicker side, so she ordered her to get a chest X-ray anyway. I'm glad she did, because it turns out that she does have a small bout of pneumonia. 

A bit of info on the illness: it's an inflammation of the lungs. Tabitha's happened to be on her lower right lung. It can be either a bacterial or viral infection or even from a physical injury among other things. Its generally treated with antibiotics. There is usually always coughing and high fever, which are the most tell tale signs. An X-ray is often the sure way for diagnosis. Pneumonia can occur at any age is needs immediate medical attention. There is a vaccine available, but I have never tried that method of prevention.

info obtained from Wikipedia

Thanks for letting me ramble!

"O give thanks unto the God of heaven: for His mercy endures forever." Psalm 136:26

bird watching walk

This morning I went for a two hour walk near my house with the Audobon Society. The funny part about it was that before I left the house I checked my blog reads on reader. There I read my sister-in-law's experience with bird watching. My experiences are also very limited.

On the walk a kind older couple lent me a pair of binoculars. I couldn't believe the difference they made. The above picture was taken with my 200 mm lens and still it's hard to capture a good shot. But the binoculars allowed you to see the birds like they were right in front of your eyes. They move quickly and often, so keeping up with them is a bit difficult. 

I must say that I enjoyed the walk more than I thought I would. It was relaxing and beautiful. Also, being able to see some of the birds with bird watchers who could tell me what I was looking at or hearing was enlightening. 

I'm sure I'll never be an avid bird watcher, as I'm not really an avid anything, but I think I'll appreciate the little fliers a smidge more.

The moon forgot to go to bed this morning!

"Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped." Psalm 124:7

Corn Maze

The kids and I went to a little fall festival, which includes a corn maze. Last year we went with our neighbors. I think it's fun to look back and see how things have changed in one year.
The kids enjoyed it, as did I. This is one big corn maze. It takes a while to get through. I was tired by the end. :) So was Patricia, so she had me hold her. She was so cute. Whenever there was a little stump in the road, she tried to sit on it. 
When you get out of the corn maze they have different things for the kids to do. They had a blast throwing the hay around. We didn't take the time to go see the goats or cows, but we definitely saw and experienced enough.
Before we headed home we took a hay ride to the pumpkin patch. There weren't many little ones to pick from, but we all went away happy. I'm glad this is becoming an annual trip for us.
"As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, so honor is not seemly for a fool." Proverbs 26:1

6 years, 3 1/2 kids later...

Some friends invited us over for lunch today. We had a good time of fellowship and the kids all played nicely. Today is also our 6 year anniversary. The family was kind enough to watch our kids for a couple of hours, while Enoch and I went on a walk around a lake. Enoch and I had a wonderful time. I think it's been about 6 years since we've gone on a stroll! 

Thank you Mike, Cindy and kids. It means a lot to us.
"His merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the Lord endures forever. Praise ye the the Lord." Psalm 117:2

Princess Party

This afternoon, the girls and I went to a princess birthday party. For reasons, which I'm sure don't need explaining, Seth was not invited, even though he is the closest in age to Emma. 

I snuck Patricia into the party, though she wasn't formally invited. I don't think anybody minded. She was sleepy the whole time, so she wasn't in the best of moods.

Here is the birthday girl herself. She is celebrating four years. This girl is a natural born princess.
Tabitha stops at the end of the runway for a pose. She really enjoyed her time there.

Seth, though he didn't make it to the girl's event, had an event all his own. As I type, he and Enoch are enjoying a Capitals hockey game. Last I checked the Caps were down by one. 

"For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by Him and for Him." Colossians 1:16

19 weeks and growing!

The first three months of pregnancy I barely gained a pound. Well, today I went in for my 19 week check up and within the past month I put on 8 pounds! The baby is finally starting to show him/herself. I've felt tiny movements off and on, which is exciting. All in all, things have been very uneventful. I am so very thankful for uneventful pregnancies!

"I will praise Thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made." Psalm 139:14

Today's kitchen creations

The coloring is off on the food. It has more orange/red in it.

For supper tonight I served Andhra Chicken Fry. Usually I feel overwhelmed when I read Indian recipes. They tend to take a lot of time and many ingredients that I don't typically carry. This one, on the other hand, is quite manageable. I did cut down on the pepper and the chili powder, because I wanted my kids to eat it. The pepper seems to be the main seasoning in this dish, so for us adults it was yummy, but seemed to be lacking that little something. This was my second time making this particular recipe, so I'm sure it was the pepper.

A couple of things that may be helpful: to make garlic-ginger paste, take equal amounts of garlic and skinned ginger. Blend them with a tiny bit of water or oil. Also, 200 grams of chicken is actually a pretty small amount. From what I can tell it's just under half a pound. So, you may need to triple the measurements. Don't be afraid to do it, either. Indian foods use much more seasoning than what we're used to using. I ended up using two good sized onions for our "little" family. 

Patricia is enjoying her dinner!

This afternoon I also had the privilege of baking these pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. They are pretty yummy if I do say so myself. The batter was more liquidy than I'm used to having muffin batters be, but the end result is great. The only thing I changed was using cinnamon instead of pumpkin pie spice, because that's what I had available. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's breakfast! 

"To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever." Romans 16:27

New camera!!!

Enoch got me a new camera for my birthday. What a sweetheart he is to me. It's a Nikon D40. I'm looking forward to learning lots more!