Ben again.

If you're happy and you know it...




... make a silly monster face...


...or say a prayer over your soup.

No, seriously. He prays this way!!

And DONE!!

News for Noah!

Don't touch my teether. I need it for my one tooth!

Sweet Slumber

Sweet Benjamin.

I tried to wake him up by making loud noises and calling for him to look at the doggies (there were really no doggies. I think he knew.) There's no sound to this, but it really needs none.

Enjoy.

Waiting...

So many seasons we spend life waiting...

... waiting for school to start
... waiting for summer
... waiting for junior high
... waiting for high school
... waiting until I was old enough to get that first job
... waiting until I was old enough to date
... waiting by the phone for that boy to call
... waiting to get behind that wheel and drive!
... waiting for college
... waiting to meet "the one"
... waiting for your first child to come into this world

And now I have experienced all of those wonderful moments in life, and yet I am still waiting for, longing for more.

... for the home that fits our family for a long time
... for a "connected" life with our church family
... for peace of mind regarding finances
... for my children to be generationally missional because they know and love a God who knows and loves them

And I'm finding myself disappointed when I feel like I've waited for so long, disappointed also that I've wasted so much time waiting and spent so little time relishing the good and perfect things that we have in this season.

James 1 says "consider it pure joy... whenever you face trials". And he goes on to say that these trials are good for us. I can agree with this because I've seen how they bring me exactly where I need to be, at the feet of my Lord. James also explains that every gift we have has comes from God, and it is good and perfect. So the timing is perfect, the size or quality or quantity is perfect. Each time we step into a difficult season, I struggle with considering it joy, and each time we step outside of the season, we saw where we could've benefited from experiencing the hardship with joy and enthusiasm about what God is doing. We would've learned so much more. We wouldn't have wasted so much time complaining and whining and waiting! And so many more woulda coulda's. So this is another season of waiting. Waiting to see what God will do when He changes our living situation in a few months. Waiting to see what God will do with our family. Waiting to see what God will do with our church and our community. Waiting for other insignificant in the scheme of things but important to His child (me) things. In the meantime, pray that we consider it all joy and that we treasure each moment and take advantage of missional opportunities that come our way.

I'd love to write more, but Noah is keeping me quite occupied at the moment. And his "talking" may wake the other children if I continue down this path!

Spring is almost here and we're loving it!

Yesterday the weather was amazing, so we took the whole family out to the park to play. It seemed like all of Nashville had the same idea. I guestimated that there were at least 300 people at the park along with us, running, swinging, sliding, and getting dirty. Even with so many people, somehow there wasn't a line for the baby swings or slides. The kids had a blast and lived to tell about it. Check out that smile on Benjamin's face. He loved the swings! They also missed their naps for this experience, which you'll see proof of in a moment. The day ended with Nathan cooking hamburgers on the grill and settling in for a long overdue daylight savings sleep!
Here are some pictures to share the day with you (and a few extras just because!)








This is obviously not of the park, but Benjamin is really working on his bball skills and preparing for the next season! He is all game!

Ben fell asleep on the couch while we were making dinner.
Grace pretended to be asleep so we would take her princess, er, picture. Slip of the tounge there!

More pictures to come. We've been having too much fun.

Updated Layout!

We have a new layout! Let's be honest. I have been waaaaay out of the technology world for about a year now, and I don't have the time to figure out how I want things to look on this blog. There used to be a title that said, "An attempt to reflect God's great significance." which, at the time, I thought... Well... I don't know what I was thinking. It's a hokey title, in my opinion, and "God's significance?!?!" what was I thinking?! That word just doesn't work for describing God, not that word alone. Okay, really not any word. And yes, since you asked, I am sleep deprived as I'm writing this, and now realizing that updating the blog again while sleep deprived a second time was probably a poor choice, but moving on. And about the runon sentences and other sentences with no verbs, just know that correct grammar left me when they started the pitocin IV drip. I'll get it all back some day. Back to what I was saying, though! If the title "An attempt...." still shows up on any of my readers' blog, please let me know because I definitely don't want it there!

I think that's it. Let me know what you think? If I have any readers, that is....

Link Love!

Here is a new blog that I'm hoping will be a great resource as the author brings an experienced and Christian emphasis on family life.
http://yourchurchhome.net/blog/Ferguson/
(Tsk. Tsk. Don't tell anyone, but this is my MOM also!~~ I'm so proud that she started a blog! Partly because she's just phenomenal and partly because of the overflowing mountain of encouragement she's offered me through the years related to my walk with Christ and my family life.)

Here is our pastor's blog that I absolutely LOVE! It's just another way to stay connected with the church when we live a distance away.
http://bridgesh.wordpress.com/

And another resource that I've really relished is http://girltalk.blogs.com/girltalk/
The writers are a Christian mother and her grown daughters. They have a wealth of encouragement, Biblical, and practical advice for mothers "in the thick of it". I LOVE it! Also!

Kids Quiet Times

We've started something new in the Wandell home, and we're on week 2 now. Each morning, after the kids have eaten, bathed, and dressed, we sit at the table and do a Bible study together. We have prayer time and then we write in our journals about what we learned. My three year old and two year old are stoked about quiet time. They love it so much and ask to do it several times a day now. We read from about three or four different books about the same story so they can see multiple pictures of the same event, and they usually draw about the story since they can't really write yet. I know they are not able to have the same sort of journaling action that I get every morning, but this is an excellent way for me to instill the importance of a quiet time in them and to encourage them to read the word and to try to understand it through writing what we get out of it and praying over the word implanted and the day to come. I also have a chance to sit down and do my own bible study while they color their stories. If I didn't get enough time in the word, I'll continue to do more study after they take their naps.

I decided to start doing this after a friend of mine read Deut 6 in front of the church. It's one of my favorite words on parenting and homemaking. It's just another way to train them morning and night that our God is the only God and to make Him a priority in our family life.