1 reason I'm glad to be home with Katherine:

Informed Christian parents are concerned. Carl F. H. Henry rightly observes, “Training children in the Way is a matter of parental duty. The rebellious child in your own home who on occasion is tempted to tell you to go to the eschatological unmentionable may be the most important potential leader you will ever direct into the service of Christ.”[1] A child is a parent’s greatest missionary enterprise. All other goals are temporal, but a child’s relationship to Christ is eternal.[2]

---

Henry, Christian Mindset, p. 18.

Phillips and Brown, 221.

Babies

Seeing the pictures of Nelleke's sweet new baby online, I remember how nice it was to hold a baby that small. Josiah looks so precious - now that I've had one, I am so aware, with every new baby, what a huge blessing they are from God. What a great thing to give us!
As my baby grows older, God's goodness to us remains obvious. There are lots of times when her behaviour reminds me of the facts of original sin, but grace comes to mind even more often. I love babies.
(Especially my own!)

A few things that make me smile, this week:
- The way she stands up in her crib, her chubby legs shaking with the effort, grinning at me, so excited to be standing.
- The word she says right now: "UpUpUp," which means, basically, "UpUpUp."
- The sign she does for "Daddy;" mainly when I put her in bed, as a method of staying up,
or when I begin to change her....

'Change.' she signs; 'Daddy.' I smile encouragingly. She signs it again. 'Change. Daddy. Change.'

"Oh, Honey," I say to Kevin, "She wants you to do it." So he does.

Best thing I ever did, teaching her sign language.

17 Months Ago...

Kevin signed his life away as I gleefully looked on.
I have the nicest feeling that he doesn't regret one bit of it.

I don't either.

“Those without a sense of entitlement shall inherit the earth.”

“Those without a sense of entitlement shall inherit the earth.” That’s what he said. Well, that wasn’t his only interpretation, but it was there, amongst a variety of illustrations on the nature of meekness.

That brought me up short. Meekness – yes. Meekness is good. But to consciously deny my own rights? My rights! That was something else.

But here he was, saying that it wasn’t something else at all. That meekness involved forgetting one’s own rights. That my “sense of entitlement,” as a wife, as a woman, as a member of society – that had to go.

He did qualify it. “I’m not saying that there can be no communication and talking over of things.” But at its root, he assured us, meekness meant understanding how worthless we are, in ourselves, apart from God.

I don’t know about you, but in my head, I think that I have a right to say that about him, to slice and dice that nasty person with my words. Don’t you see what s/he did? I have a right to expect my husband to do certain things for me, and I certainly have a right to make like a popsicle if he ignores my needs, the insensitive clod. I have a right to get angry at people who toss McDonald’s wrappers in the ditch on *my* property. To feel bitterness towards them as I trudge along with my garbage bag, cleaning up someone else’s stinking mess.

I have a right to that first kiss, when Kevin comes home.

To be thanked, for my time and energy spent in making that meal.

To receive courteous service at the bank and grocery store.

It’s only fair.

Let’s think about fairness for a moment. When Jesus Christ died because I sinned against God, was that fair?

When I consider that, my perspective changes. How can I insist on getting my ‘rights,’ when Jesus put everything He was rightfully entitled to aside, choosing mercy and love instead?

And how can I do just the opposite, insisting on my rights at the expense of mercy and love? Now *that* wouldn’t be fair.

Inheriting the earth aside, the sense of entitlement needs to go!

And what a nice bonus that is; inheriting the earth. It’s very encouraging, as I carry on in meekness, even when those McD wrappers pile up and the first kiss goes to the baby.

More Baby Signs

My sister told me that her baby only did one sign at a time. For instance, if he learned "more," he would stop doing the sign for "milk." And so I was not surprised when Katherine learned "please" and dropped "change." I still faithfully modeled the signs for her, but she stuck with "please."
(I had a suspicion that she thought it meant "pick me up, Mommy," but that was okay.)
And then, quite suddenly, yesterday, I realized that she did only one sign, because that's what worked. I had been changing her, picking her up, finding her soother, and other things, when she would say "please."
Then, while waiting in a long line at Green Village, she needed a change. So she said "please." I picked her up and snuggled her a bit, then put her back down. Change was impossible right then.
She tried again. I smiled at her, and told her she was a good girl, to be saying please so nicely. One more try. Then, finally, in desperation, she said "change" (which she hasn't said for at least a month), followed quickly by "please."
So I changed her.

In my opinion, babies only say one sign at a time because that's all they need to say!

Does watching TV cause ADHD?

"Does watching TV cause ADHD?

Emote

Here in Lewis Mountain, we have water so hard it would disown its mother. It also layers itself on the sink and taps, making cleaning them virtually impossible.
Impossible, that is, without magic eraser. I recently discovered the Eraser's shining powers, and went to town on my sink, that very day.
When Kevin came home, I told him about it.
"...and look how nice and shiny the sink is! Isn't it nice?" I asked him.
"Mhmm." said Kevin from behind the paper. "Very nice."
I glanced at him and saw his complete lack of interest. "You don't care!" I cried, turning back to the sink, doing my best to appear to be stricken with grief.
Alarmed, he put the paper down and nearly jumped out of his chair, overcome with remorse, probably. Then he noticed that I was faking.
He looked at me disapprovingly.
"Someone who's on the emotional roller-coaster that you're on shouldn't make jokes like that!"

I just laughed.