We went to my mom and dad’s house for dinner the other night and the boys had fun with their cousins.
Dog pile on Grammy
Two Milestones
Today Baby Boy ate a entire container of baby food for the first time.
This weekend we will be celebrating Big Brother’s second Birthday! I hardly remember what life was like before he arrived (I mean that in a good way).
In our small Bible study group we have been moving our way through 1st and 2nd Timothy. Last night we gathered together to discuss 2 Timothy chapter 2, which deals primarily with disciplship. It begins with the following verses:
vs. 1 You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
vs. 2 And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others.
This led to the the following questions: what is discipleship, and who should be discipling whom. We basically skipped over the first question and went straight for the second. The discipleship of new believers and young believers were discussed (both of which I believe are very important)but after that the conversation began to trail off. I left Bible study feeling like we had missed something very important but was having trouble sorting out what that missing element was. I’m not sure I am much closer to forming any kind of useful answer, but so far this is what I have come up with,…
The charge of a disciple is spelled out in verse 2, to take the teachings of truth and to commit them to faithful men who will be able to teach others. To me that command seems like a foundational building block that effects all elements of the church. While I can think of many examples of one-on-one discipleship, what as a church body, can we be doing to promote discipleship? Is that a fair question to ask?
In the discussion of who should be discipling whom, the idea of peers discipling peers was only briefly mentioned and was to a certain degree dismissed as unnecessary. I’m not so sure I would so lightly passed over peer discipleship. Also, as in Timothy’s case, younger people discipling older people. Is that appropriate in our day and age?
Another element of discipleship that I found very interesting is the description Paul gives of the characteristics a disciple should possess.
vs. 24-26 And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient , in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps repentance, so that they may know truth.
So many of these qualities are not ones that come easily to our human nature (at least not mine) but they are clearly essential for the shaping of disciples.
These are just a few of my rambling thoughts on the subject, I would love to hear some of yours.
Conversation with Grandma
They are in the back yard- he is riding his trike on the patio.
Grandma: Where are you going on your bike?
Big Boy: Town!
Grandma: What are you going to get in town?
Big Boy: Cake.
Grandma: What kind of cake are you going to get?
Big Boy: Blue cake.
Gardening
Every morning this week our day went as follows:
First- Eat breakfast in our p.j.s (big brother wanted toast and offered to share some with baby boy).
Next we all put on our work clothes, sun screen, shoes, and head outside. The yard needed a lot of work. Roses to prune, garden patch to weed, patios to wash down, flower beds to weed and cultivate, and a lawn that was two weeks overdue for a trim. It was a big task but we put our gloves on and got dirty!
What makes me tick
Let me begin by saying, I have a good life. However, there are days when all I do is put out fires. When night comes and the boys are tucked in bed I feel like I have nothing to show for the massive amount of energy I put forth during the course of the day.
Working in my yard is so satisfying. When the day is over my shoulders are sore, some part of my body is badly sunburnt, and I am covered in dirt. I hurt- but it’s the good kind of hurt. I can stand back and look at my beautifully cultivated flower beds, clean patio, mowed lawn, tidy rose bushes, and say, “It is good” (no irreverence intended). When I fall into bed at night I feel as though I have earned every square inch of my pillow.
We were at my mom’s house. I was making lunch in the kitchen, my mom was in the back of the house and big boy was playing with the dogs on the living room floor. Both my mom and I enter the living room just in time to see him straddle the back of Indie (my mom’s standard poodle). As I’m crossing the room to lift him off the back of the dog, Indie bolts upright sending him flying backwards. All I really remember is seeing the bottom of his little feet flying though the air and the sound of his deafening cry as the back of his head hits the china cabinet behind him. I scoop him up off the floor but when I pull my hand away from his head I see that it is covered in blood. My paniced eyes lock on my mom’s face and I say, “Mom; there’s blood.”
“It’s o.k sweetie, he’s going to be fine. Stay calm”, she says to me. (Just as a side note: isn’t it amazing how your instinct to comfort and protect your child never subsides. I’m holding my own bleeding son in my arms as my mom is reassuring me. To this day if I’m riding in the car with her, and she stops suddenly, she will still throw her arm across my chest!)
We take him to the sink, wipe away the blood and realize that we are going to need to take a trip the the E.R.
Big tears and whimpering continue on the car ride to Doctor’s Medical Center, but by the time we check in and sit in the waiting room he has recovered and is laughing and teasing baby brother.
Daddy shows up just as we are getting ready to put two staples in his head. The nurse has numbed the cut and in a matter of 10 seconds the Doctor has put two staple over the cut. He was so brave and he charmed the nurses with his smiles.
For the next two days he wanders around pointing to his head and saying, “No No Indie- head hurt – No No Indie!” As he says this he frowns and shakes his head.
Pajaro Dunes
Our weekend at Pajaro Dunes was beautiful. The weather cooperated (last year it rained every day exept the last) allowing us to have fun on the beach.
