Moments of Brilliance

Trying to continue on with intentionally recording those "rays of light" in this parenting journey...

Last week, Jack got his first real Bible. Well, all Bibles are real, but you know, the first one with mostly words, instead of mostly pictures...one that he can actually read himself...and one that contains every chapter and every verse that God ever breathed! It's been exciting. He loves to read it, which just touches our hearts, even when he should be going to sleep ;) We are eager for him to explore his faith, to deepen his understanding, and to hide more and more Truth in his little boy heart.

We had the pleasure of watching Easter unfold before Luke's very eyes this year. He just really took it all in and was so sensitive to everything going on and seemed to really start to understand what it means that Jesus died and rose again. In the past, the Resurrection Eggs have been something that weren't really allowed to land in Luke's not always-so-gentle hands, but this year he was eager to to open each one every day and tell the story over and over. It was sweet. Now there were still those times where he was fighting with his little brother for trying to take the spear and stab him with it (for example)...we are in real life here. But overall Easter was a really meaningful celebration this year for our family.

David is still 2 :) But praise the Lord, I was able to see something in him last week that has been an amazing realization about who God made him to be. He is incredibly tenderhearted. Sure, he can hit and kick and talk back like any toddler can, but he has a wonderful sense of others and he really does care. I know it's not like he just all of the sudden became this way, and it's definitely not anything I've done. But I honestly think God has opened our eyes to it recently to ease the burden a little of all the discipline that goes on in life with a 2 year old. It started one night when I was pulling a weed in the front yard and said "ouch" because I got pricked by a thorn..."Are you okay, mommy?" he came over and asked right away, without an ounce of hesitation. Then one morning his brother was in a very sour mood and had his food taken away from him because of some poor choices..."Don't take Jack's oatmeal, Daddy. He's hungry." he said. And again, when a friend fell to the ground on the playset, "Are you okay?" were the words out of David's mouth before anyone else even noticed it had happened. It was awesome! For most kids it seems it doesn't always come natural to be sensitive to those around them. But as I said, praise God that this little one has a heart that bends towards that. One thing less that this mama has to nag about!

Little Joshua has had a rough go of it the past few weeks. He's having a hard time sleeping well, and waking a lot in the night. But that's not really what I wanted to point out. It's a season. This, too, shall pass. He is growing fast. There is nothing compared to his sweet little smiles, and his laughs and "goo's." He is a true joy. And, though we'd like for his crying in the middle of the night to pass, we would not wish these days away. The Lord is always teaching, always refining. We've discovered it may actually not be about his crying at all, as much as it's about us laying down our own selfishness (even in exhaustion) and trusting in God's goodness despite the various trials of life. Count it all joy! That is our prayer. (James 1:2)