How much does God have to do?

In my reading through the Bible, I've been reading about the Exodus this week. This morning I got to this part in Exodus 14:31...

"And when Israel saw the great power which the Lord had used against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and they believed in the Lord and his servant Moses." NASB

God had just parted the Red Sea for the Israelites to escape the Egyptians. What struck me as odd was the fact that God had sent 10 plagues up to this point...frogs, locusts, turning water into blood, flies, etc., and not to mention killing the firstborn of all Egypt, including the firstborn cattle! (I never noticed that before.) And the Israelites didn't fear God and His power until God parted the Red Sea!!

How much does God do for me when I am unimpressed? I pray that I have a thankful heart and that I don't become calloused to all the wonderful miracles he performs on a daily basis...like waking up every morning, my kids' breath, the sun rising in the East, giving Robert health so we have a roof over our head, giving me a conscience so we can respond to the Holy Spirit and stay close to the Lord, giving us food allergies (as opposed to leukemia), giving us clean water to drink and healthy food to eat every day, freedom, a healthy marriage to sanctify me, a family who can't get enough of each other, kids who love me, the opportunity to share Christ with a lost person, oceans that don't wash our country away, mountains that stay put, salvation...

God is so faithful and powerful and loves me more than I can possibly imagine!!!

Mattie's Birthday Celebrations

Well, we're done with all our celebrating. Mattie is officially one! Here's her first cake experience. This was at Aunt Candace and Uncle David's house. We got together for both birthday girls (Mattie and Hannah) on their birthday. Mattie wasn't so sure about the cake at first, but it didn't take long!

Here is her cake.

And Mattie girl enjoying her cake at her party! She jumped right in this time!!

And her happy zebra!! (We're hoping this will curb her climbing efforts!)

Happy Birthday, Mattie!!

One day old...the first day we met her. We thought she was beautiful! She was so content, a great nurser, and very strong.

One month old. She was a very happy baby!

Two months...her first Easter. I bought this dress almost as soon as we knew Mattie was going to be ours, trusting that all would go as we hoped.

Three months old. Love those chubby cheeks and big blue eyes!

Four months old...learning to survive in the bathtub with Jacob!!

Five months now...sitting up and beginning to crawl. She definitely figured out there's a world around her and she wanted to get around!!

Six months...this is one of my all-time favorites. Mmmmmm, I could eat her up! This is the week she learned to pull up and open drawers to find things. My life has never been the same!

Seven months and still happy as ever...as long as she gets her morning nap.

Eight months...she loved going outside to play in the swing. She loved crawling around too, but she ate too many rocks!

Nine months...I can hardly believe it! She began to stand on her own, but knew crawling was a much faster way of getting around.

Ten months...her first Christmas. We got the best gift of all this year...her!

Eleven months...her first day in control of the spoon and the applesauce. She had a blast!!

And one year! That's today. I can hardly believe it. It has gone so fast!!! And she has been a tremendous blessing, more than we could have ever imagined. God has been so faithful in building a love between all of us. You would never know she's adopted.

Happy Birthday, Mattie!!!

The most important thing to teach my children...

In my Bible Study we're reading A Woman After God's Own Heart by Elizabeth George, we read this week about imparting God's word to our children. Now, I work very hard each day to teach Jacob Math, reading, critical thinking skills, appropriate behavior, and many other things. But this statement in this week's study woke me up:
"We as Mom's can do many things for our children, but teaching God's word must be our passion. Why? Because God's word, the divine law...has value for salvation and value for eternity."
That was a light bulb moment for me. Does Math have any eternal value? Does Phonics stir Jacob to love Jesus more? Then why am I so diligent about teaching the three R's to cross off a school day when I struggle to remember his Bible reading or scripture memorization?

As you can imagine, this has been a week of reevaluating our schooling priorities. I know I am responsible for preparing Jacob to successfully provide for his family, and academics are important. But the most important "subject" I can develop in Jacob is his love and desire for righteousness in Christ. Now that's a vision statement for our homeschooling career!!

So this morning, Jacob was praying this morning at breakfast and was thanking God for Mommy, Daddy and Mattie, our house and good friends, the good food He gives us, and the sunshine. What a blessing for Jacob to know that God gave us all these wonderful things!

And a couple of Wednesdays ago we were riding to church and I thought I'd check to see what spiritual info had sunk in thus far...

Me: Jacob, do you believe God loves you?
Jacob: No because I don't know what believe means.
M: Hahaha, Okay, to believe means to understand, to know that something is true. That being said, do you believe Mommy and Daddy love you?
J: Yes indeed! [Yes, he really said that!]
M: Do you believe God loves you?
J: Of course!
M: Do you believe you have ugliness in your heart?
J: Yes.
M: Do you believe that Jesus died on the cross because He loves you so much?
J: Yes.
M: When you die, do you want to go to heaven and be with Jesus forever?
J: No, no, no! [Okay, I'm momentarily discouraged. Obviously we've missed something critical!] I want to stay with you forever! [Okay, that was worth a wrong answer.]
M: [Moving on...] Well, we're all going to die someday. Even Mommy... So, when you die, do you want to go to heaven where you can be with Jesus forever or go where you'll never have the choice to be near Him?
J: I want to go to heaven where we get to praise Jesus all the time!
M: What does "praise" mean?
J: To sing songs and tell Jesus how much we love Him. You know that, Mommy! [How sweet is that?]

Mmmmm, that conversation was such a blessing to me! "I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth." 3 John 1:4 I know Jacob has a long way to go in his spiritual walk, but I firmly believe that Jacob "believes" and understands as much as he is capable right now. I'm not waiting for a prayer of salvation, because I could con him into that today. (And I don't want to hang my hat on that either. ) The Lord has blessed what we have done so far. Jacob's heart is open to hear God's truth! This is where I go from here...

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in the house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up." Deuteronomy 6:5-7

First, I need to love the Lord with all of my being. Fill my heart with Him. Then I am to teach Jacob and Mattie all the Lord is teaching me. That is the most important thing I can do for my children. Reading and Math won't get anyone in to heaven.

Guess where I found her today?

I'm going to have a weekly thread called Where's Mattie??

Today I went in the kitchen and found her in the second drawer. I got her down and distracted her, though not for long.

This was what I found next!! And look at that sheer joy on her face as she throws a handful of sugar into the open drawers below!!

How she did this all silently, I don't know. And I thought I could get away without installing cabinet locks!

I know I seem completely surprised every day. You'd think I'd expect this by now! I guess I keep thinking she'll be content with a new altitude for a few more days before climbing higher. Silly me!

And I promise, I DO monitor my children!!