Word Filled Wednesday-Psalm 46:10

For the past few weeks most of our thoughts and prayers and conversations have been centered around this opportunity that we'd been presented with. On Monday we got a call saying they couldn't use us after all. I was so disappointed. I wanted to be part of this ministry in the worst way.  In my head we were already there. So it was a hard pill to swallow when I learned that wasn't what God had in mind for us. Really, really hard to swallow. I cried most of Monday. I moped about and lost myself in my misery. After a while, I decided to push my sadness aside and listen. And that's when I had all these thoughts rush at me. Thoughts about how can we be part of full time ministry in another part of the country when we still struggle with full time Christianity right here at home where we're comfortable? I have some areas of my life where I still struggle to love others as He loves us, to forgive as I have been forgiven. I am quick to judge and slow to forgive. As much as I love Him and long to be the person He has called me to be, I still have much work to be done. I believe that is why He is keeping us where we are. For now.

As I was editing my picture last night, I was planning on using Proverbs 3: 5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight". That verse had been on my mind, and it seemed to fit this situation perfectly. But as I was sitting there, "Be still, and know that I am God" popped into my head. I had to look it up because I didn't know what book it came from. But once the thought was there it wouldn't go away. So I thought I would set aside my plan and go with it. Kind of symbolic, isn't it? We need to set aside our plans-our wants and our needs- more often and just be still and listen to Him. And He will make straight our paths. To see more Word Filled Wednesday visit Amy here.

Contemplation

As my seven year wedding anniversary approaches, I find myself contemplating marriage.  It saddens me that our society doesn't view marriage as the sacred vow God intended it to be. Since neither of us had good role models growing up, my husband and I have worked hard at redefining our understanding of marriage. Redefining marriage so that our girls can learn firsthand from us what a godly marriage is supposed to be, instead of having to struggle with it on their own as adults. In our decade together we have loved each other passionately and hurt each other deeply. We've tested each other, we've pushed each other. We've learned and we've grown and we've become better and stronger together. As individuals we still have our weaknesses. Weaknesses we talk about and work on every day. More important than our weaknesses though is the strength that we find in each other. And that's what it's all about. Adam had Eve because it wasn't good for him to be alone. And I have this man. This wonderful, infuriating, loyal, hard-working, funny, beautiful man. And he has me. Lucky guy :)

Yay! Field trip day!!

We recently took a trip to the Ecotarium. We had such a good time! The last time we were there Francesca was only two and afraid of everything, so it was fun to watch her explore and enjoy herself.

Here she is playing with the tornadoes. This picture doesn't really do them justice, but they were so cool! There was a wheel that you used to control the direction of the tornado...we were really amused.

This was Sam's favorite part of the day. Making music with a tuning fork. And I use the term "music" loosely. It's more like making really, really loud obnoxious noises to make mommy's head explode. Seriously, the first ten or fifteen minutes it was educational and entertaining and all. But when she discovered that moving her hand up and down over the holes controlled the volume-and that she preferred the sounds it made at full tilt-let's just say she was lucky to get a ride home that day.

This was a really great magnet exhibit. There was a magnet on the end of the pole and you could make it move around using the magnets underneath. Since Katie studied magnets in science we thought she'd be really into this. After about three minutes she stood up and tried to swing on the pole. Guess we were more interested in magnets than she was...

Francesca discovered this about thirty seconds after entering the building, and had to pried away twenty minutes later. If she had it her way, she would've stripped down and jumped right in. Must be her inner mermaid.

Ahh. Here we are at the tornado again. I told you we were amused! We couldn't stay away...

Here's auntie, our faithful field trip companion. (Ilu, B! I totally wouldn't advertise that you need a nice Christian husband on my blog!!)

There was a room that was dark and you could push a button to light up each animal. It was so dark, in fact, that I had to use the flash to take this picture. As I was taking this picture, I heard a little voice behind me saying "I don't like it in here, I don't like it in here, I don't like it in here..." I turned around and saw this:

I immediately turned the flash on and snapped another quick picture put the camera down and comforted her. Poor thing is scared of the dark! (and bugs, and the toilet flushing, and the sound of cars driving by our house) It really is a good thing she's not afraid of everything anymore! 

Sam got to check out some interesting bugs under the microscope...

and under these doors were more bugs and things found in a tree limb. Notice my fearless warrior standing a foot behind her sister?

Speaking of fearless warriors, my clan just returned from their hike. I must go and administer band-aids now.