Before and After

We began on Thursday morning with a trip to a wholesale nursery.  Stephen borrowed a 16' foot long trailor and completely filled it stacking plants on it and filling the inside of the truck.  By lunchtime we nearly had it unloaded and positioned.  We did as much as we could with two kids running around the backyard and sometimes "helping."  But we decided it best if we hired an additional pair of hands to work on Friday.  The three of us worked hard until 6:00 that night.  Saturday, we completed the planting of all the perinnials that we had and did a good clean up.  We still aren't finished.  We are still missing several shrubs and all the flowers, but it looks so much better and I can't wait to see all these tiny little blooms spring forth with leaves.   

We enjoyed the view from the hot tub and watched Kendrick swim without a life jacket for the remainder of the evening.  Couldn't have been a better weekend. 

Creation

It is a wonder, this world and how it was created.  His creations are just amazing and he is as well.  I was blessed today to see not one ultrasound, but two.  Two different babies, two different wombs, both of which will call me aunt.  He thought of it all--down to each and every eyelash.  I can't wait to meet both of these precious children of God.

In addition to human creation, I was able to dig my hands into the earth for the past two days.  It felt good to scrape it out of a hole, squeeze it and break it apart with my hands.  Adam was made of this stuff.  Awesome. 

The dirt in this neck of the woods is called caliche.  It's a mess.  When wet it is a sticky, glue-like substance.  When dry, it can be as hard as a rock.  And when tracked into my house leaves white footprints everywhere.  We had the flowerbeds made for us back in the fall, but we wanted to plant everything ourselves.  They mixed in good dirt and mulch, but as I labored with my trowel I couldn't help but worry about the rest of God's creation--the shrubs, the trees, the flowers.  How were they to grow in this "gumbo" dirt?  How were the roots going to find enough nourishment?  My mind/the Holy Spirit kept taking me to Luke 12:27.  "Consider the lilies." 

I knew this meant something and I was to discern what He was trying to tell me. 

Typically, I am not a worry-er.  I know it does no good.  One of my earliest memorized verses was "Cast all your cares on Him, for he cares for you."  But, maybe my "worry" comes in another form of second-guessing myself, being to critical/analytical or obsessing over things letting them consume me.  I'm a little "all or nothing." 

There are a couple of issues which have surfaced lately, that I will have a blog for later and that I'm not ready to talk about.  But, I guess I took my hint.   I'm going to stop second guessing, worrying about what I should have done differently or blaming myself.  I'm going to be disciplined but yet with an ease of spirit.  And, I am going to place all of my cares in His hands. 

The work is done.  I'm going to sit back and watch Him work wonders in our lives and on the branches of these little plants whose buds are just waiting to pop out at the right time. 

A New Blogger

I'd like to formally welcome my dear friend, Kelli at L to the 3rd Degree to the blogging world.  We set her up with an account a few weeks ago and there is BIG news to share!

Kelli and Joe, we look forward to welcoming little Hunter Alexander into the world and will surround him with our love!  Congratulations you guys! 

Poor Kendrick

For the past couple of nights Kendrick has had a hard time going to bed.  He is either scared of something and wanted a night light or is being stubborn.  Those of you who know our sleeping routine, know that it is usually a piece of cake.  These kids are trained, but Kendrick keeps getting out of bed.  We put him back in several times last night and assuring him that everything is ok and that there is nothing to be scared of.  He was so tired though, rubbing his eyes and such.  Finally, he settled down and stayed in bed, or so we thought....

At 9 o'clock last night I rounded the corner and saw this.

Poor thing had one of his blankets stretched out on the ground perfectly and the other blanket covering him in the middle of the hallway.  We felt so bad for him.  He knew that if he came into the living room we would just put him back in bed.  Hopefully, we can get the problem figured out tonight. 

On another precious note, he are my boys ready for church--matching!  Love them!

Las Vegas Institute

For the past 5 years Stephen has been going to Las Vegas to attend and teach classes at the Las Vegas Institute for Advanced Dental Studies.  This is an institute that offers specialized training in Restorative, Occlusal, Ortho, Implant, Endodontic, Laboratory, Practice Management and Team Training.  I have been to a couple of their yearly destination meetings, but never to the LVI campus.  It was a long standing joke that Stephen was just coming out here to live his double life. 

Well, I have now visited and had the campus tour.  It's real.  This week's course was on dental implants.  I got here on the last day of the course when they were actually drilling and placing the implant using a model.  Stephen had previously done it on his Dad and so he let me do the procedure.  It really was pretty interesting and fun.  Easy as pie, by the way.  Now, add in salava, a tongue, and blood and then, I'm not so sure.  I get to watch them do it on an actual patient this afternoon.  We will see if my stomach stays in place!   

The Lord's Prayer

As we are searching for a church, Cavett has been joining us in worship every now and then, checking out all aspects from Sunday School, to the bulletins, to the Children's sermons, to the bogs or notebooks offered for entertainment during the sermon.  He has enjoyed the hymn singing and has been trying to read the words and also likes the "rock-n-roll" sound of the praise and worship teams of other churches.  One of his new favorite songs is "We Are Marching in the Light of God" or "Siyahamba."  But, what I had yet to teach him that would be so easy to participate in was The Lord's Prayer. 

Why hadn't I thought of it before?  Well, the words, I just thought they were a bit to hard to understand at this point.  Silly me! Such nonsense.  Our old church back in Houston is doing a whole Lenten series on the prayer and so I decided to make it our Lenten Challenge.  We began repeating each phrase once every night for our prayer beginning Ash Wednesday.  Three days later he was anticipating what I was going to recite.  A week later, he nailed it.  We are still discussing the meaning of each phrase and I am confident that by Easter, he will know the salvation and the love that Our Father has bestowed upon us.  He will understand that God is like a "third parent" who loves and cares for us giving us an example to follow.  As he grows older I hope that He will become more of a friend, a confidant, and a source of strength. 

I'm getting the daily devotionals from our old church still and this past week has focused on "Our Father."  I loved how Tom Pace said it. 

"As children, we learn that the identity and vocation of our parents gives us credibility and a derived sense of worth. As we grow older, we move into a phase in which we believe that it is all up to us, that we need to make our own place in the world, to make our own mark on creation.


Over time, though, the notion of creating our own identity begins to grow hollow. We begin to ache for an identity that is unrelated to our accomplishments, that is defined, once again, by remembering the unconditional love of our parents. This time, though, we come to understand that it is not the love and approval of our earthly parents that give us our real identity. That identity comes from “Our Father, who art in heaven.”
We have the right to say, on the playground of this life, “My father flung the stars into the sky, and he built that mountain over there, and made the oceans, and made a man and a woman out of clay and then brought them to life. What did your dad do?”

I guess next up is the Gloria Pati and the Doxology.  These kids are sponges watch what daily bread you "feed" them.

Art by: Mark Lawrence  "The God of All Grace." 1 Peter 5:10



"But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you." 1 Peter 5:10

Camping with the Alexanders

This weekend we braved the cold and wind to meet our dear friends, Anna and Mark and their son Walker for a weekend of camping at Huntsville State Park. There was.....

grilling.....

picnicing...

bacon cooking...

friend making...

backpacking...relaxing...pinestraw discovering...stick sword fighting...2 mile hiking...hot dog and marshmallow roasting... s'more eating...bonfire making while catching up with friends.

I couldn't have asked for a better time.  Ok, well other than being just slightly warmer or no wind. 

My favorite pic of the weekend was catching Kendrick chillaxing in the tent warming up in front of the space heater. 

Looking forward to the next time with the Alexanders.