I Won Earings!

I won some earrings this week! Aren't they CUTE?! It's very exciting for me, because I don't win stuff alot. haha!

Check out my friend Christy's Etsy store Wired Whimsy, she's got some seriously pretty stuff! Her 9 year old son made these earrings. (Can you believe that?!) So obviously the jewelry making talent runs in the family! Thank you James (and Christy) for the awesome earrings!

Amazing Love - Part I

God calls Himself our Father and us His children.

I John 3:1

"See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God;

and so we are."

As a Christian, it's such a common reference. I'm sure there are probably many who've never stepped foot in a church who've heard phrases like "God the Father" or "God's children" before. But when I stop to think about what it really means to be a child of God, I am overwhelmed and humbled. I think being a mom helps me to understand it even further. And even though the parent/child relationship is only a very small picture of what God's love for His children is, I can't help but look to it and marvel that a perfect God could love such imperfect people. Here's some ways I try to better grasp God's amazing love:

Unconditional Love.
Parker doesn't have to do anything for me to love him, and there's nothing he could do to make me not love him. I love him for the simple fact that he is. Because he's my son. I love him before myself and there's nothing I wouldn't do for his best interest.

Can you believe God loves you like that? More than that! His ability to love far surpasses what we could ever imagine, and it can withstand anything.

Romans 8:38-39

"For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Discipline and Direction.
I can't let Parker do whatever he wants. He thinks he knows what he's doing when he takes silverware out of the dishwasher, but he doesn't know what I know. He doesn't know that there's a sharp knife that will cut him and hurt him. When I tell him no, he doesn't like me, and he probably thinks I'm pretty mean. Often he doesn't listen the first time and my warnings to stop have to become firmer and tougher at times.

God does the same thing with us. Whether we are in a state outside of God's will, or He's simply keeping us on His path, there are times when God has to get our attention. We might think we know what's best, but we don't know what God knows. He wants the best for us even when we don't understand why He's allowing the things He allows or withholding the things He withholds. The fact that God cares about our choices tells me what a loving Father he is!

Hebrews 12:5-6

"My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the ones he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives."

I'm so thankful that being a mom has allowed me to better understand God as my Heavenly Father! I know I still only have a microscopic vision of what His love is, but as I grow more as a Christian, I see how unworthy I am of that love and I'm so humbled by it.

Part II is seeing myself as a child of the Father.

(This would have been just waaay to long to do in one post haha!)

Toddler Activities

I've found that it can be kind of tough to come up with activities for a 1-2 year old. One year olds are ready to experience new things and get into everything, but they aren't quite ready for alot of the neat crafts & activities you see for older kids. This week "Show Us Your Life" at Kelly's Korner is about Kid's Activities, so I thought I'd share a few that this boy likes!

1.) Craft Pom-Poms

This is one of those "get out occasionally" toys! I have a plastic Tupperware and that jar with all the pom-poms and Parker just loves to dump & sort. You have to watch because they do fit in little mouths so nicely, in fact, I'm pretty sure Parker swallowed one at one point...It's great as a beginning to counting & colors too.

 2.) Water Play

Anything water related is great for us! Yes, it occasionally requires me to reluctantly put on a swimsuit, but it's worth it for pictures and memories like this one. Since we can't have a pool now that we're in an apartment, we got Parker one of those water tables for the balcony. Works great for a little splashing around on a hot day. Of course you could always improvise with a bowl or plastic tote and some cups for scooping.

3.) Coloring/Drawing

This Parker's latest obsession. Sometimes he colors in his high chair & other times we set up a little station at the kitchen table. He usually gets very messy & we've started just taking off his shirt when he's coloring since he ends up coloring his belly. Coloring times are most often followed by a bath!

4.) Other

Some other things we do are, Parker handing us silverware out of the dishwasher to put away, letting him help load the washing machine, playing with pots & pans, hide & go seek, stacking blocks or cups, and reading and spelling.

Elevator Mishap...

Sooooo....

We had a little "oopsie" moment with the elevator today.

Parker is a toddler, and as such, he tends to be slow and stubborn about 90% of the time. When we're heading down the hallway toward the elevator he's usually doddling behind staring at his sandals or reading everyones door numbers. It's very normal for Brent or I to reach the elevators before him, push the buttons, and have the doors held open waiting for him to mosey on in.

Today, Parker and I were headed up to the roof for some sunshine and fresh air and the basic scenario I played out above was taking place. So I get in the elevator and push 8 (we live on 3) and stick my leg against the door to keep it open for Mr. Parker. Well about as soon as he gets to the elevator doors, they just close! With my leg there and everything! I mean, obviously I was able to pull my leg through, but they so weren't opening back up.

So there is left my 19 month old son crying at the elevator doors, thinking I ditched him, as I PANICKED ride up 5 floors! I get to the 8th floor, close the elevator doors, ride back down to 3 (jumping, thinking this speeds it up apparently?) and Parker is still right at the doors crying. (It had only been a grand total of maybe 45 seconds, but still.) So after a million "I'm so sorry bubba"s we were both fine.

So yeah, I'm sure that won't be happening again. We've had other close calls where as we're getting off the elevator Parker turns around and tries to bolt back on as the doors are closing & that would be WAY worse. But this was still a little nerve wracking for sure!

Yeah, this has nothing to do with anything. I just like this show & there happens to be an elevator in the picture so BAM! visual aid.

It's Dad's Day!

Happy Father's Day!

Mother's Day sort of came & went around here without much notice, since that's the weekend we were moving. Brent does so much for me, helps out so much, and makes sure I get time to recharge all throughout the year so, I really don't feel like he needs to do anything more on Mother's Day. But I always try to make sure Brent knows how much he's appreciated as a dad on Father's Day. He rarely does something just for himself so it's one time where he can just really take time to know how loved he is and recharge a little bit with something fun. I think this year I'm just sending him golfing whenever he can fit it into his week. He loves it, and hasn't been in a long time. I think he may even try to go with his dad when he's down here later this week.

I'm blessed to not only have a wonderful father for my son, but I have a great father myself! I'm so thankful for a dad that I always knew loved me and worked so hard to provide for us. I'm not sure what it would be like to be the only male in a house of 3 females, but I'm sure it wasn't always easy & he probably got sucked into far more fights over the bathroom than he'd care to remember. My dad set the bar high as an example of what a dad and husband should be, and I count myself & my sister very lucky for that! My dad is one of our biggest encouragers and always tells Brent and I how supportive and proud he & my mom are of us. That is more of a blessing to us than they could ever know.

I'm also thankful for a great father-in-law. I truly believe a big part of why Brent is such a great husband and dad because he had a great example to learn from. I know Brent also learned an incredible work ethic from his dad as well. Earl has probably helped his kids move more in the last 4 years than he ever helped anyone move in all the previous years combined! haha! He is always there to help the girls out with a (another) car problem, or move something heavy with Brent. He's there physically for his kids, but he's also there as loving support. He's been a wonderful father-in-law to me, and Parker is just his little buddy!

I feel so blessed to have so many wonderful, godly, caring, supportive, men in my life. I know not everyone has those people to lean on. I hope everyone has a great Father's Day, and takes time to remember we also have a Heavenly Father who loves us more than any person ever could.

Thank you Lord for being our Father, our Dad - who we can come to with any problem or fear and You promised You'd be there to see us through. Thank you for providing earthly fathers as a picture of Your love to Your children.

1st Night of Youth Group at PBC!

So tonight was the 1st ever night of youth group for Providence Bible church! Woohoo - that's exciting stuff right there! And because I'm a Dork with a capital 'd' I, of course, did not take any pictures. Oops. Please forgive me. I'll take many more throughout the coming weeks. Part of the issue was I had a certain toddler with me, who was supposed to be home with our lovely gracious babysitter. But she was sick so the little dude came to youth group. And he did great (especially considering his too early/too short nap.) I was certain he'd melt down, but nope he did great! All that to say, I forgot lots of things including the camera.

Brent and I (and Parker) went early to set up. It officially started at 6:00 and it was just us workers for a little while (Brent, me, Sarah, Greg, & Keaton) then a couple kids, Hudson & Isaiah showed up and played pool with Brent. Another kid, Isaiah #2 lol, came in a little bit later. It was great hanging out, eating, and getting to know them.

We played Indoor Marco Polo & Whack-Em. (Well the boys played, me and Sarah cleaned up the other room and kept Parker from getting trampled. Totally a 2 person job let me tell ya!) Then we went upstairs for prayer and a devotion. This first night was a little different just getting to know the kids and letting them know what youth group will look like this summer. But we were all so excited afterward & just know that God can do something great!

I'm sure I'll post tons more about the kids and youth group in the future. But tonight was just to great not to share!

One Month Later...What's Happening?

We've been here one month. A whole month!.......Is that all? haha It sure seems like alot longer than that!

It's been a very busy month! A few weeks ago we took the new members class at Providence which is about an 8 hour class I think. I can't remember exactly. It's a few hours on a Friday night and then a few hours that Saturday morning. We got babysitters for Parker and Brent and I did that. It's different than how alot of churches do membership, but we do alot of things differently than most churches. A fact I LOVE!

We hadn't planned on kicking off a youth program until the fall, but those plans changed a little bit & now we're starting next week! I'm really excited to see how God is going to take nothing & turn it into something. We already have 4 people committed to helping with the teens, which is such a HUGE blessing! And I think I found someone to watch Parker every Wednesday night, so that will free me up to help alot more too!

We're still praying and looking for a better paying job for Brent. The hours & pay at Starbucks just aren't gonna cut it for very long. It's hard not to worry about the things God tells us not to worry about. But if the lilies and birds have shelter and food I KNOW I don't need to worry one bit about how all that stuff will get taken care of for us. (Not that we're struggling with food or anything like that, we're not - wanted to clarify.)

Hopefully this week I'll be able to start helping out a little bit with Encompass, which is a nonprofit ministry set up by PBC to help mentor and support single moms, widows, and orphans. It's really in it's baby steps right now, but I'm hoping I can help out a little bit!

Besides all that, we've enjoyed lots of fun stuff too! We live close to Civic Park which hosts alot of the festivals that go on during the summer. We also discovered a fun play place at Cherry Creek Mall which Parker adores & I don't mind taking him to an air conditioned play ground one bit! And Parker and I made some friends at the park the other day who we're hoping to meet up with for lunch this week.

Slowly but surely Denver is beginning to feel like home. There are still moments I get totally lost or feel a little lonely, but God is working in me to not focus on the things that don't matter. I love that He's teaching me that, even though it's an uncomfortable thing sometimes. Brent has been such a blessing to me with his great attitude and excitement for what he does. He hasn't uttered one word of complaint or discouragement about anything since we've been here and that is just a huge encourager to me. I'm so thankful Parker has such a great dad to look up to!

I suppose that's plenty long enough for now! If our neighbor would kindly turn down his music I would love to go to sleep. :0) Oh, and a new blog header coming soon thanks to my friend Karen!