This week during practice at church with friend and leader, Jamey, we got onto a discussion regarding giving glory to the Lord and how sometimes in our everyday lives, instead of giving glory to God, we are giving glory to ourselves. I've been thinking and praying on this the last few days in an effort to come up with words for Sunday's service that talks to a new year and finding it in ourselves to give glory to The One who deserves it; giving glory to God.
Repeatedly the word "consecrate" has come to my heart, and so I have been thinking to dive onto that path a little more deeply. A niggle began Tuesday night during practice when we were singing "Glory to God" (by Steve Fee)... in the song, the words "take my life and let it be" are sung, and that prompted in my head the old hymn, "Take My Life and Let It Be", which was written in 1874 by Frances R. Havergal. The first line of the song goes, "Take my life and let it be, consecrated, Lord, to Thee". From there, the word "consecrate" took hold and what it really means.
To consecrate one's self is a sacred term from the 14th century, and basically means "to devote to a purpose with or as if with deep solemnity or dedication" or "to devote irrevocably to the worship of God by a solemn ceremony". As I prayed over this word, it was put on my heart, what better than to consecrate ourselves at the beginning of the year, make a resolution, if you will, to truly devote to the worship of God? Give glory over to God... raise His name in praise... to truly and wholly consecrate ourselves to him? How awesome that one simple and beautiful word can mean so much and truly capture the essence of how we should be in God's presence.
I love the new songs of today's worship, but sometimes the old hymns really say it so simply... so aptly...
Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
Take my moments and my days; let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Take my hands, and let them move at the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet, and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee.
Take my voice, and let me sing always, only, for my King.
Take my lips, and let them be filled with messages from Thee.
Take my silver and my gold; not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect, and use every power as Thou shalt choose.
Take my will, and make it Thine; it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is Thine own; it shall be Thy royal throne.
Take my love, my Lord, I pour at Thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself, and I will be ever, only, all for Thee.
Let those words play on your heart as you begin the New Year; consider consecrating yourself to the Lord... truly giving yourself over to the worship of Him... devoting yourself, mind, body, and soul, when you enter into worship with Him. Resolve your days to flow with praise to God, through the good and the bad. Vow to let your movements be movements directed by Him. Your words... your song... be His words, be His song. Our thoughts and deeds should be directed by our desire to praise Him; to pour our hearts and our love out over others as an act of worship to Him. Take my life, Take my will, Take my heart, Take my love... Take me, Lord, take me. Take my life, and let it be, all for You and for Your glory.
erin
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Hanging with the Girls Today
Each morning that I'm home with the girls this last week, I've been trying to promote play time on the floor for Raven... it is all too easy to swaddle her up and tote her around... but, she needs to be free to move and play and be... and learn to roll over and such! Julia enjoys the play time too... we read books and she loves to play with Raven's little legs and try to get Raven to play with little baby toys... it's too fun to watch! These first two pictures are of our play time together today.
The third picture I thought was cute... Adam was holding Raven after dinner while I was cleaning up and Raven was actually calm and just hanging out... :)
erin
The third picture I thought was cute... Adam was holding Raven after dinner while I was cleaning up and Raven was actually calm and just hanging out... :)
erin
Happy New Year!
I am anxious to see the ball drop tonight as the New Year is rung in!
I wanted to share this picture... it is a great example of how our year ended...! Ha! Adam and I joked tonight that we'll think back on Raven's first three months as our really good baby, but since then, not-so-much. She has taken to being quite cranky lately unless Mommy is holding her... or, quite cranky if Mommy is in the vicinity and Mommy isn't holding her... I have reports that when I am not around, she's not so bad. :) Julia wanted desperately to hold her a variety times today, but at no time was Raven happy when Julia was holding her... I finally snapped a picture of what we were experiencing and left it at that.
Julia, on the other hand, has been in a great mood lately and while we had a rough few weeks that I would attribute to adjusting to being a Big Sister, she has been a peach the last couple of weeks and really a dear to be around. Her vocabulary is expanding by leaps and bounds and this week she has really taken to adding consonants to the ends of her words (up until this week, I had no idea if it was a "bug", "ball", "book", or what have you unless it was directly being pointed at, etc.). She especially loves words that end in the "k" sound and "book", "stuck", "icky", "yuck", and others have heavy emphasis. She is very proud of the fact that she can ask specifically for one of us to read her a book and we actually know what she means. Finally. Without a big production of trying to figure it out.
Also, Julia has finally learned her Peas and Thikoos and it is sweeter than sweet to hear her ask for "more, peas" and "thikoo" when you give her what she desires. And, after months and months of Daddy's hard work, Julia is finally saying "Bup!" ("Up!") What's really been fun is having full conversations with her that I still don't understand, but the facial expressions and obvious deliberateness with which she talks is astounding and fascinating and comical all at the same time.
This last week Adam finished the bunk beds and Julia is super excited about her new bed and we will be using some Christmas money to purchase mattresses for them this weekend. Each night she tries to get us to let her sleep on the hard plywood slap that that is on the base of her bed... but, soon enough we will be tackling tucking her in at night and hoping she actually stays there. I hope the transition goes smoothly; we are hoping in a few weeks to move Raven to the crib, as she is sleeping 9 - 10 hours straight at night now.
Today was fun to watch Julia's amazement as we took down the Christmas tree... she seemed quite surprised that the tree could be taken apart in pieces and put into a box... she wanted very badly to help Mommy with this project so she was in charge of keeping the box flaps open when I put the limbs away. Julia was also enthralled with the number of boxes we have in which we pack the ornaments, and left and right she was picking up and saying "bock", "bock", "bock" over and over again. Thankfully she hears and obeys when Mommy says, "hand the box to mom!"
At any rate, I am excited to see what this next year brings in the way of watching our girls grow and learn. It is so hard to believe that two years ago Julia was a tiny baby and now she is a Big Girl and she has a quickly-growing baby sister (almost into 6 mo one-piece outfits!).
erin
I wanted to share this picture... it is a great example of how our year ended...! Ha! Adam and I joked tonight that we'll think back on Raven's first three months as our really good baby, but since then, not-so-much. She has taken to being quite cranky lately unless Mommy is holding her... or, quite cranky if Mommy is in the vicinity and Mommy isn't holding her... I have reports that when I am not around, she's not so bad. :) Julia wanted desperately to hold her a variety times today, but at no time was Raven happy when Julia was holding her... I finally snapped a picture of what we were experiencing and left it at that.
Julia, on the other hand, has been in a great mood lately and while we had a rough few weeks that I would attribute to adjusting to being a Big Sister, she has been a peach the last couple of weeks and really a dear to be around. Her vocabulary is expanding by leaps and bounds and this week she has really taken to adding consonants to the ends of her words (up until this week, I had no idea if it was a "bug", "ball", "book", or what have you unless it was directly being pointed at, etc.). She especially loves words that end in the "k" sound and "book", "stuck", "icky", "yuck", and others have heavy emphasis. She is very proud of the fact that she can ask specifically for one of us to read her a book and we actually know what she means. Finally. Without a big production of trying to figure it out.
Also, Julia has finally learned her Peas and Thikoos and it is sweeter than sweet to hear her ask for "more, peas" and "thikoo" when you give her what she desires. And, after months and months of Daddy's hard work, Julia is finally saying "Bup!" ("Up!") What's really been fun is having full conversations with her that I still don't understand, but the facial expressions and obvious deliberateness with which she talks is astounding and fascinating and comical all at the same time.
This last week Adam finished the bunk beds and Julia is super excited about her new bed and we will be using some Christmas money to purchase mattresses for them this weekend. Each night she tries to get us to let her sleep on the hard plywood slap that that is on the base of her bed... but, soon enough we will be tackling tucking her in at night and hoping she actually stays there. I hope the transition goes smoothly; we are hoping in a few weeks to move Raven to the crib, as she is sleeping 9 - 10 hours straight at night now.
Today was fun to watch Julia's amazement as we took down the Christmas tree... she seemed quite surprised that the tree could be taken apart in pieces and put into a box... she wanted very badly to help Mommy with this project so she was in charge of keeping the box flaps open when I put the limbs away. Julia was also enthralled with the number of boxes we have in which we pack the ornaments, and left and right she was picking up and saying "bock", "bock", "bock" over and over again. Thankfully she hears and obeys when Mommy says, "hand the box to mom!"
At any rate, I am excited to see what this next year brings in the way of watching our girls grow and learn. It is so hard to believe that two years ago Julia was a tiny baby and now she is a Big Girl and she has a quickly-growing baby sister (almost into 6 mo one-piece outfits!).
erin
I Resolve: Reflection on 2009
This last year hasn't been a bad year by any stretch of the imagination... we welcomed Raven into our lives, we have all remained relatively healthy (minus a gall bladder), and we both still have our jobs. There isn't much I can complain about regarding 2009.
However, one thing that strikes me over and over again when I think back on the last 12 months is that for the most part, I flew by the seat of my pants. I didn't plan ahead (I didn't plan at all), I didn't do much of anything with intention, and mostly... I *just* lived. Each day I woke up and did what I needed to do to get through the day knowing/hoping that I had another chance at survival the next day. I wouldn't say that I was or have been depressed at all... but I certainly wasn't living with any real intention.
I didn't even make any resolutions this last January... and even though I rarely keep up with them, I always make resolutions.
I wouldn't say that there are any real reasons for why I chose to live this way... I simply didn't choose to live any other way... to live with conviction... to live with intention... to be deliberate... to live in confidence... to be my own person. I gave up even before the year had began.
These last few days I have really been looking forward to 2010 and I found it comical as I didn't really know why I was so looking forward to 2010 but it seemed like a good goal to reach... 2010... a new year! And then I started thinking about it and realizing what I've stated above... and it's no wonder I want a clean slate. It would be nice to live with purpose, don't you think? Instead of merely existing, to really exist in the world and be a part of it from day to day. It wasn't a "bad" year... it wasn't a "good" year... it was... a year.
In the scheme of time, a year is not a whole long time, but in the scheme of a life... say, 80 years... say 100 years, for easy math, it is 1% of a life. People quibble over less percentages than that in other areas of their lives... so how could I even think that one year was "meaningless" in my life? Ugh. Such a thought.
This post might not mean much to you... it might be confusing... but it's been brewing in my head and I needed to get it out. A good friend of mine said (wrote) today that she is to Be Intentional... and wow, it was really profound to me. As in, "duh, why have I chosen to not live intentionally? How hard is it really to Be Intentional?" I shouldn't steal her resolution but I suppose I will anyway and add it to my list for 2010.
However, one thing that strikes me over and over again when I think back on the last 12 months is that for the most part, I flew by the seat of my pants. I didn't plan ahead (I didn't plan at all), I didn't do much of anything with intention, and mostly... I *just* lived. Each day I woke up and did what I needed to do to get through the day knowing/hoping that I had another chance at survival the next day. I wouldn't say that I was or have been depressed at all... but I certainly wasn't living with any real intention.
I didn't even make any resolutions this last January... and even though I rarely keep up with them, I always make resolutions.
I wouldn't say that there are any real reasons for why I chose to live this way... I simply didn't choose to live any other way... to live with conviction... to live with intention... to be deliberate... to live in confidence... to be my own person. I gave up even before the year had began.
These last few days I have really been looking forward to 2010 and I found it comical as I didn't really know why I was so looking forward to 2010 but it seemed like a good goal to reach... 2010... a new year! And then I started thinking about it and realizing what I've stated above... and it's no wonder I want a clean slate. It would be nice to live with purpose, don't you think? Instead of merely existing, to really exist in the world and be a part of it from day to day. It wasn't a "bad" year... it wasn't a "good" year... it was... a year.
In the scheme of time, a year is not a whole long time, but in the scheme of a life... say, 80 years... say 100 years, for easy math, it is 1% of a life. People quibble over less percentages than that in other areas of their lives... so how could I even think that one year was "meaningless" in my life? Ugh. Such a thought.
This post might not mean much to you... it might be confusing... but it's been brewing in my head and I needed to get it out. A good friend of mine said (wrote) today that she is to Be Intentional... and wow, it was really profound to me. As in, "duh, why have I chosen to not live intentionally? How hard is it really to Be Intentional?" I shouldn't steal her resolution but I suppose I will anyway and add it to my list for 2010.
And... all that doesn't mean we didn't have our fill of interesting episodes this year... some good, some bad, and all of which really make you think about life and what it means and where you are headed and who you want to be and... do I really need to go on? But, you need to do something with all of that thinking.
I hope that 2010 finds you all living intentionally... that it is a good year for you all! I'm still working on my resolutions... but I already have a bunch and am excited for the new year to begin.
erin
I hope that 2010 finds you all living intentionally... that it is a good year for you all! I'm still working on my resolutions... but I already have a bunch and am excited for the new year to begin.
erin
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Good Morning!
Raven says "Good Morning!" to you folks out there in blog land!
We had a bit of a rough night last night, but we are all alive and well this morning. Thus far the hives seem to be staying away, so I was able to start nursing Raven again last night... it had been a week. I wasn't producing as much milk as she wanted and we ended up feeding her a bottle last night to supplement the nursing as she was Stark RAVEN Mad! Then she was up three or four times last night... yeeouch! Add that on top of the fact that I'm still sleeping on the edge of consciousness... double ouch... and then Julia was up crying again in the middle of the night... triple pains in my head today...
... but, all the same, it is a glorious morning, the girls were happy and bright-eyed this morning and I felt overwhelmed with love and emotion this morning and we got ready for the day. Who's blessed? That's right... I am!
erin
We had a bit of a rough night last night, but we are all alive and well this morning. Thus far the hives seem to be staying away, so I was able to start nursing Raven again last night... it had been a week. I wasn't producing as much milk as she wanted and we ended up feeding her a bottle last night to supplement the nursing as she was Stark RAVEN Mad! Then she was up three or four times last night... yeeouch! Add that on top of the fact that I'm still sleeping on the edge of consciousness... double ouch... and then Julia was up crying again in the middle of the night... triple pains in my head today...
... but, all the same, it is a glorious morning, the girls were happy and bright-eyed this morning and I felt overwhelmed with love and emotion this morning and we got ready for the day. Who's blessed? That's right... I am!
erin
Monday, December 28, 2009
Tradition!: Couch Picture
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As is the tradition in my family, each year the cousins take a "couch picture" together. Here I present to you this year's "Couch Picture" of cousins Laila, Hannah, Julia, and Raven. You would laugh if you saw the progression of pictures as each girl was adamant that SHE needed to hold Raven and have the picture taken again... this picture turned out well and Raven was fairly happy but by the end, Laila was bored and Raven was screaming. Too funny!
Grammy also had her picture taken on the couch with the girls... how hard is it to get four little girls to look at one camera? Obviously very hard. :)
Grammy also had her picture taken on the couch with the girls... how hard is it to get four little girls to look at one camera? Obviously very hard. :)
erin
Christmas with Cousins
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This weekend (26th through today), my parents (Jeff & Sue) were able to visit with my nieces (my sister Melissa's girls - Laila & Hannah). It was such a blessing to have them visit and for the cousins to spend some time together. This is the first time that Laila and Hannah met Raven, and Julia hadn't seen Laila or Hannah since March. Considering how much Julia has 'grown up' in the last nine months, I was really looking forward to the girls spending time together as Julia is better able to interact and play with other kids.
We allowed Julia to stay up until they arrived Saturday night, knowing that they wouldn't get to spend much time together beyond yesterday/Sunday. The girls had a lot of fun bouncing around on the air mattress. On Sunday, the girls stayed home with Papa and Grammy while Adam and I went to church. After church, we watched the Packers together and Adam really experienced his nieces at that point... he was Uncle Jungle Gym for a little while and it sure was fun watching them bond together!
After Julia woke up from her nap, we had "Christmas". The girls received some really cute ornaments (yay, Raven received her first and so-far-only "Baby's First Christmas" ornament -- thanks, Papa & Grammy!). Julia and I received super CUTE aprons (can't wait to get in the kitchen and cook with her in them!) and Raven received some cute outfits. Grammy loved her sewing machine and Papa likes his new jeans and books. The Iowa Santa also brought gifts for Laila and Hannah and very quickly Barbie, Little Pet Shop, and Strawberry Shortcake pieces were strewn around the living room. :) Raven and Adam were pooped and took a quick snooze during all of the unwrapping happenings.
Julia made sure that she was involved in whatever the Big Girls were doing, even if that meant simply sitting at the island on the bar stools. Adam thought it would be fun to teach the girls how to play Candyland, as we thought it would be a game that Julia would enjoy, and even though Adam officially "won", Hannah ended up coming from behind and beating Julia and Laila (much to Laila's disappointment).
While Papa and Erin were off buying much needed supplies at Wal-Mart after viewing the De Vries lights, Adam whipped out harmonicas and each of the girls played and played on them and were excited to learn that they were allowed to take their harmonicas home with them. Hopefully they didn't cause bleeding ears on the ride home today, and I'm sure Daddy Paul will be SO excited when he learned that Uncle Adam gave his daughters harmonicas as gifts...! Sorry!
They ended the night with more air mattress bouncing and then it was time to shut out the lights and hit the hay. Laila and Hannah headed home with Papa and Grammy today (minus one little hamster which Auntie Erin promised to find and send on its way) with promises of visits from their cousins Julia and Raven soon. We hope to make it north to Minnesota in February so that the girls have more time to get to know each other and spend more time together.
erin
We allowed Julia to stay up until they arrived Saturday night, knowing that they wouldn't get to spend much time together beyond yesterday/Sunday. The girls had a lot of fun bouncing around on the air mattress. On Sunday, the girls stayed home with Papa and Grammy while Adam and I went to church. After church, we watched the Packers together and Adam really experienced his nieces at that point... he was Uncle Jungle Gym for a little while and it sure was fun watching them bond together!
After Julia woke up from her nap, we had "Christmas". The girls received some really cute ornaments (yay, Raven received her first and so-far-only "Baby's First Christmas" ornament -- thanks, Papa & Grammy!). Julia and I received super CUTE aprons (can't wait to get in the kitchen and cook with her in them!) and Raven received some cute outfits. Grammy loved her sewing machine and Papa likes his new jeans and books. The Iowa Santa also brought gifts for Laila and Hannah and very quickly Barbie, Little Pet Shop, and Strawberry Shortcake pieces were strewn around the living room. :) Raven and Adam were pooped and took a quick snooze during all of the unwrapping happenings.
Julia made sure that she was involved in whatever the Big Girls were doing, even if that meant simply sitting at the island on the bar stools. Adam thought it would be fun to teach the girls how to play Candyland, as we thought it would be a game that Julia would enjoy, and even though Adam officially "won", Hannah ended up coming from behind and beating Julia and Laila (much to Laila's disappointment).
While Papa and Erin were off buying much needed supplies at Wal-Mart after viewing the De Vries lights, Adam whipped out harmonicas and each of the girls played and played on them and were excited to learn that they were allowed to take their harmonicas home with them. Hopefully they didn't cause bleeding ears on the ride home today, and I'm sure Daddy Paul will be SO excited when he learned that Uncle Adam gave his daughters harmonicas as gifts...! Sorry!
They ended the night with more air mattress bouncing and then it was time to shut out the lights and hit the hay. Laila and Hannah headed home with Papa and Grammy today (minus one little hamster which Auntie Erin promised to find and send on its way) with promises of visits from their cousins Julia and Raven soon. We hope to make it north to Minnesota in February so that the girls have more time to get to know each other and spend more time together.
erin
Baby Toys
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This last week Julia and I decided Raven needed some of her own toys so Julia and I pawed through a box of her baby toys and we tried to introduce Raven to some of them... not so interested yet, but I'm sure she'll get the hang of toys soon enough! Especially with Big Sister Julia helping out...!
Little Drummer Girl
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Adam came out with his guitar to show me a new song he had learned, and Julia made a beeline for her little drum and sticks. She brought it over to me frantically asking me to help her put it on, and instantly she picked up her sticks and started to play along with daddy. Melt. My. Heart.
erin
erin
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