Today, Ruth was wearing the same outfit (and she's just about the same age!), so I brought the camera along with me while I was hanging clothes on the line to take a few fall shots.
The mums are the same, and my rosemary and thyme are much bigger! Two years ago, I had some basil which was just about done. I haven't had any since, and I miss it! But I do have some tomatoes in--just recently resprouted some and replanted them. The new plants seem happy; we'll see how they do!
So much less hair . . . and still uses a pacifier. I'd forgotten that Gemma gave hers up by this time (sort of accidentally--we lost it, and then she wouldn't take one anymore).
She's such a little darling, though! She's just starting to crawl up on her knees, and pulling up a bit, too. She loves to stand. :) She blows raspberries and babbles a lot.
Big sister, reminiscent of the struggles we had with naps at 10 months, is not napping anymore. But she IS singing nursery rhymes, as much as she sings! She loves pretending--she'll nurse a wad of pine straw or her toothbrush to sleep and have her markers go potty. She finally named one of her babies Cinthia Baby! And she thinks that "Winnie the Pooh" is "Winnie OF the Pooh." :)
It's good for me to pause and reflect on these precious moments, because we do find discipline and potty-training very draining much of the time. Ruth mostly sleeps better than Gemma did at this age, and I think part of it is because we've learned more since then, both through experience and reading. Hopefully it will be the same the second time around with the disciplining and pottying. I read a quotation by Elisabeth Elliot today which was very encouraging in this respect. She said, "Our vision is so limited we can hardly imagine a love that does not show itself in protection from suffering.... The love of God did not protect His own Son.... He will not necessarily protect us - not from anything it takes to make us like His Son. A lot of hammering and chiseling and purifying by fire will have to go into the process."
It's easy to pinpoint the most painful episodes of suffering in our experience--a breakup, loss of a baby, bike accident and burglary were some of the hardest things I've been through. I think others can relate to the nagging question "What is God going to test me with next?" I've been thinking lately that maybe this isn't the best approach to have toward suffering. Yes, more tough times will probably come, but that doesn't mean that I should pull up my bootstraps and toughen my heart so that I won't ever hurt like that again. The suffering we Christians go through is to make us more like Jesus.
I've also been thinking about how the sanctifying work of "suffering" doesn't always present itself in the form of a painful episode. Sometimes it's just about persevering through another semester with a tough professor, another year with a challenging class of students, another sleepless night with sick children, yet another accident on the rug. We pray and hopefully learn our lessons along the way, instead of just reflecting back upon them after the trouble is over. While parenting really isn't suffering (it's mostly joy!), it is sanctifying. We cannot demand that God make it easy for us just because He loves us, since He is teaching us through the struggles. He is with us in our storms, and He is also with us when it's just cloudy and depressing for weeks.
I digress.
Happy Fall. :)
It's good for me to pause and reflect on these precious moments, because we do find discipline and potty-training very draining much of the time. Ruth mostly sleeps better than Gemma did at this age, and I think part of it is because we've learned more since then, both through experience and reading. Hopefully it will be the same the second time around with the disciplining and pottying. I read a quotation by Elisabeth Elliot today which was very encouraging in this respect. She said, "Our vision is so limited we can hardly imagine a love that does not show itself in protection from suffering.... The love of God did not protect His own Son.... He will not necessarily protect us - not from anything it takes to make us like His Son. A lot of hammering and chiseling and purifying by fire will have to go into the process."
It's easy to pinpoint the most painful episodes of suffering in our experience--a breakup, loss of a baby, bike accident and burglary were some of the hardest things I've been through. I think others can relate to the nagging question "What is God going to test me with next?" I've been thinking lately that maybe this isn't the best approach to have toward suffering. Yes, more tough times will probably come, but that doesn't mean that I should pull up my bootstraps and toughen my heart so that I won't ever hurt like that again. The suffering we Christians go through is to make us more like Jesus.
I've also been thinking about how the sanctifying work of "suffering" doesn't always present itself in the form of a painful episode. Sometimes it's just about persevering through another semester with a tough professor, another year with a challenging class of students, another sleepless night with sick children, yet another accident on the rug. We pray and hopefully learn our lessons along the way, instead of just reflecting back upon them after the trouble is over. While parenting really isn't suffering (it's mostly joy!), it is sanctifying. We cannot demand that God make it easy for us just because He loves us, since He is teaching us through the struggles. He is with us in our storms, and He is also with us when it's just cloudy and depressing for weeks.
I digress.
Happy Fall. :)
Two terrible foster placements, followed by a miscarriage, all in less than 4 months left me scared of what God was going to send my way next. Time, prayer and discussing my feelings with others (because it helped me realize how ridiculous my thoughts were once I put them into words) were all very helpful at moving on and not feeling that way any longer. Just trying to be encouraging, I'm so bad with words, I just want you to feel there is hope that it won't always feel that way. It no longer does for me and I am very thankful for it.
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