"However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace." Acts 20:24
Well, as predicted, we've been really busy this week with packing & preparing our new home to move into! And to be honest, I had nothing for the FFF post this week... until dinner time. :) BUT Enoch must have known that the FFF post was lacking because after dinner tonight he totally had a video-worthy moment...
After we had said "all done" and cleaned off his hands and face, he was in the best mood. Out of the blue, he looked over at Hugh, puckered his lips (which he's never done before), and made his kissing sound ("mmm..") like he was just waiting for Hugh to give him a kiss. (This is what we do to him sometimes, so I think it's hilarious that he picked it up and started doing it to us!!) And then he did it to me. And then he repeated about 20 times. It was precious! So, of course, I caught a few seconds of it on camera and thought I'd share. Hope you guys enjoy!
Well, this has been a big week for our small family! Let me tell you the 3 things that were firsts for us:
First up on the "firsts" list from this week... WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!!! I haven't posted anything on here during the month-long process of buying because there were a few long shots and hurdles that we had to come through before we could close on this house. I hope to do a detailed post at some point about the process of buying this for sale by owner home as well as some details about the home itself. For now, I'll sum it up by saying we love this house because: it has enough space for our family to grow into (4 bedrooms, 2 baths); it is close to campus; and it will allow us to "host" international students because of the layout (this has been a goal of ours for a few years now). However, before we can move in, we need to clean, paint, repair, and probably clean some more. :) So, I am going to go ahead and just say that for the next 2 weeks or so, blog posts will probably be sparse. Sorry! I'm going to try and keep up with the FFF posts and the Reading Together posts for sure because they're both so fun, but if they show up a day late or are really short... you'll know why.
The second "first" for us this week was Enoch taking his first independent steps! Hugh has been practicing standing and walking with him every evening (and usually every morning too) for the past few weeks, and it has really given Enoch the help he needed in figuring out how to coordinate his feet. At this point, Enoch can take 5-6 steps toward Hugh, but he still falls a lot, and he doesn't have very much incentive/confidence to do it on his own when Hugh's not practicing with him. It's also really hard to get it on video because he think falling toward Hugh is a game, and so he'll fall 3 times for every 1 time he'll walk. So, this video is from a few nights ago when he was just learning how to coordinate 2-3 steps at a time (I didn't get a video of the 6 steps he took from tonight).
And the third "first" from this week is also in the video below... Enoch has officially said his first word (with an attached meaning) - "Dada." He says it non-stop when Hugh gets home from work in the evening, and if Hugh doesn't immediately pick him up and carry him everywhere he goes until dinner time, Enoch pouts... It's pretty cute. :)
This is the third chapter in Noel Piper's book that we are reading together: Faithful Women & Their Extraordinary God. This chapter looks into the life of Gladys Aylward, missionary to China. She was a short, uneducated, poor English woman who God moved to the Shanxi Province in China (see map below) against many odds. It seems that she was gifted with the ability to share the gospel, and her short stature and dark hair made her naturally at home with the Chinese. She eventually became a full-fledged Chinese citizen and adopted the name "Ai-weh-deh" which means "the virtuous one." And even though she dropped out of school at 14 and was not a good student, she was able to pick up the Chinese language quickly when given the incentive of hard work.
"The fact that I learned not only to speak, but also to read and write the Chinese language like a native in later years, is to me one of God's great miracles" (p. 85)
As I read the story of Gladys' life, I was continually shocked by the many ways the Lord provided for her. I thought I'd recount a few of my favorites for this chapter's review.
After learning the language, Gladys had a desire to travel more and share the gospel in remote villages around her, but she had no money or means of safe transport. At the same time, the government banned foot-binding {meant to keep women's feet small}, and the local mandarin {possibly similar to a mayor or governor in the US} appointed her to go from village to village inspecting children's feet to enforce the ban. He not only gave her a donkey to ride and soldiers to protect her, but he also paid her a stipend to live on! This was her response, "As I look back, I am amazed at the way God opened up the opportunities for service. I had longed to go to China, but never in my wildest dreams had I imagined that God would overrule in such a way that I would be given entrance into every village home [not just every village]; have authority to banish a cruel, horrible custom; have government protection; and be paid to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ as I inspected feet!" (p. 87-88)
Later, after the local mandarin knew and respected Gladys and her God more, he called on her to stop a prison riot. In those days, Chinese prisons were horrid and criminals were all housed together, no matter the level of their crime. The riot that had broken out involved one man with an axe {how in the world he had an axe in prison, I'm not sure} who had killed and wounded several other prisoners. When they arrived at the prison, the guard told her that the soldiers were too afraid to deal with the riot but that he knew she could because, "You {Gladys} preach the living God everywhere. If you preach the truth -- if your God protects you from harm -- then you can stop this riot" (p. 89). So even though Gladys knew nothing about prisons or stopping bloody riots, she entered the prison, took the axe away from the murder, and ordered the other prisoners around. Shockingly, they obeyed her, the riot was stopped, and her God's reputation was given much credibility.
There are a handful of other amazing examples of God's provision for Gladys and her deep faith in Him... Like the time she led 100 children through the mountains seeking refuge for more than 2 weeks during the Japanese invasion... Or the intense conditions she faced when she traveled through Europe and Siberia in order to make it into China. However, those stories are not well summarized here due to their length and detail. So, I'll end with a quote from a letter Gladys sent to her mother in the hardest part of the Japanese invasion of China. In my opinion, it clearly shows her devotion to God's calling no matter the cost:
Life is pitiful, death so familiar, suffering and pain so common, yet I would not be anywhere else. Do not wish me out of this or in any way seek to get me out, for I will not be got out while this trial is on. These are my people, God has given them to me, and I will live or die with them for him and his glory" (p. 94-95).
I also appreciated Noel Piper's conclusion to this chapter so much, that I thought I'd include it here as well for those who are just following the blog posts but aren't able to be reading the actual chapters with us. I think it is so challenging!
Gladys Aylward had every reason to say she couldn't go to China. She could not have afforded it. She could not have survived the trip through Russia. She could not have led 100 children safely across the mountains and the Yellow River. No, she couldn't. But God could. If we think we can't do what God is asking us to do, we're right. But God can. (p. 102)
For those of you reading along, what parts of Gladys Aylward's life were most encouraging or inspiring for you? How do you relate to her story? How were you challenged by Noel's conclusion?
Sometimes I find that words, even for prayers, are hard to come by in the aftermath of evil. This is especially true when you are touched by the evil and/or when you can relate so closely with those afflicted. I am often comforted by the truth in these verses when I find that words simply will not come:
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. (Romans 8:26-27)
In relation to last week's shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, I found this response of prayer from Kevin DeYoung helpful in lifting those affected up to our Gracious God. It is soaked in truth and full of Biblically centered pleas to the Father.
I caught a quick video this week of Enoch eating and obeying/using commands. In the video, you can see how he typically responds when I ask him to drink some milk, and you can see his version of asking for "more." He learned the milk command about a month or so ago, but saying "more" has just happened in the past few weeks. {And I should also note that he is not always this calm while eating. While we strive for this type of behavior, sometimes it's a struggle... most notably in the evening when he's tired.}
For those wondering, this is what "more" should look like:
Why my baby gets to stay in his pajamas all morning...
he's snuggly;
he's warm and comfortable for his first nap;
if he's rowdy while eating breakfast, he doesn't get applesauce on his good clothes;
and lastly, there's just not much cuter than a little boy in footie pajamas!
... although a naked little boy with a cloth diaper on is definitely a close runner-up... but in the winter time it's probably not wise to leave your babies naked for too long, no matter how cute they are. ;)
I enjoyed reading about Lilias Trotter over the past week from Noel Piper's book, Faithful Women & Their Extraordinary God. While I had never before heard of her, it seems that she lived a truly meaningful and faithful life for the Lord.
Here are a few of the highlights I picked out from this short biography of her life:
She chose to serve the Lord first and foremost and allowed her giftings (art) to be a means, not an end in itself. This seemed like a hard decision for her, and I often find myself faced with similar decisions. I love the way Noel summarizes this decision, "Much later, she realized even more strongly the importance of focusing on Jesus, rather than on all the good things he gives us" (p. 46).
She was creative and full of new ideas in fulfilling her ministry to Muslims in Algeria. She and her dear friend Blanche came up with numerous ways to meet and visit Muslim women. They also traveled to desert outposts, where missionaries had not yet been and sought to send more missionaries there to follow-up with their work. Additionally, Lilias was among the first to begin writing biblical material for Arab women, even though the vast majority were illiterate during her lifetime, because she knew the Lord would bring literacy and she wanted solid material for them to be able to study and learn from. I appreciated her response when she was criticized for being so forward-thinking, "And do not let us feel 'it is all premature'. Faith is generally premature; it deals with things 'not seen as yet'." (p. 53)
I also appreciated Noel's emphasis on how unlikely Lilias was to be a single, female missionary in Algeria. She was 'older' before she began her missions work; she didn't know anyone in Algeria nor did she know the language (Arabic); she was physically frail due to her heart and required extended times of rest; she had received no formal training about being a missionary or living in a different culture; and, at that point in history the team of women were being pioneers in reaching Muslim women with the gospel of Jesus Christ. And yet with all of these hurdles, Lilias was faithful and the Lord made a way and blessed her ministry for thirty-five years!! That is so encouraging to me and reminds me of this passage from the Word:
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)
For those of you reading along with me, what aspects of Lilias' life stood out to you the most? Were you encouraged? Challenged? Share you thoughts below with a comment!
I'll leave you with a piece of her artwork as well as a challenging quote:
Take heed to the ministry which thou has received in the Lord that thou fulfill it. (p. 63)
I just realized that I haven't posted an "update" about Enoch's development lately. :/ So sorry! And so to the best of my ability, here's some of what has happened over the past 2 months.
Movement- Enoch is crawling everywhere these days and can climb over obstacles with little problem. He loves walking along objects (like couches, cabinets, etc.), with his walker, or while holding onto Hugh's pants. Although he can stand by himself for a few seconds, he's not confident yet that he wants to walk by himself.
Teeth- Enoch worked in his bottom left molar over these past two months, putting him up to 9 teeth! Although it took such a long time for his molar to work in, he really likes using it now for chewing. :) And in my opinion, we only had a few days of teething-related crabbiness, so I was thankful for that!
Skills- Enoch can tell you what a puppy and a rhinoceros say, and now he can also (usually) point to his head, belly, and ears on command. He is still learning nose, mouth, eyes, and the rest. He loves to clap his hands, wave, and blow kisses on command {unless we are in public, and then he only does it when no one is looking, like when we are in the parking lot, haha!}. He also just learned how to use his hands to say "more" while eating (we ask him to use his hands rather than whining or hitting the high chair). Little Man has also just become good at letting us brush his teeth {which used to be such a struggle}, and he has just figured out how light switches work and always reaches for them when we enter and leave rooms.
Obedience- Little Guy does pretty well obeying commands that he understands (like come here, share, drink some milk, no, don't touch, etc.). A few commands that we are working on right now (meaning he isn't great at obeying them yet) are not opening cabinets, not hitting, not throwing, and not complaining (aka: whining). I am continually amazed at how quickly Enoch learns these commands {smart little cookie}, but I am also quickly reminded with each new command that we start learning that his will is so strong. Right now, it isn't uncommon for him to commit an offense (one that he knows is wrong) and immediately look up at me or Hugh to see if he's going to get in trouble for it. We've had to be on our toes about being consistent at disciplining him, but I can already look back a few months and see the progress that he is making with obeying Mama and Daddy. {As a side note so that I can remember next time around, we began teaching obedience with "no" around the time Enoch learned to crawl.}
Eating- First, I should say that Enoch is up to 24 lbs {and quite barrel-chested, in our opinion}!!! We are SO thankful that the Lord answered our prayers and gave him growth. :) On most days, Enoch will nurse 4 times, drink 2 (7 oz ea) cups of milk (via straw), and eat three meals with one or two small snacks (but the snacking is irregular and he doesn't require it). Breakfast is always applesauce mixed with yogurt {usually Hugh eats breakfast with him}. Lunch is always a cup of milk, a grain (usually whole wheat bread), a veggie, and a fruit. Dinner is usually the same as lunch except that sometimes he gets extra protein from cheese, beans, or meat. And if I'm having something like chicken noodle soup or spaghetti, he usually eats that in place of the veggie/grain. His favorite foods are: bananas, string cheese, cheerios, and graham crackers. He has also just learned how to hold a long piece of food (like string cheese) in his hand and take bites (rather than shoving it all in his mouth at the same time).
This was during the sleep-deprived
period and he would just conk out randomly.
This was during family worship, right
before nap time.
Sleep- Little Guy is still taking 2 naps a day, and he generally sleeps from 6 or 6:30 pm until 5:30 or 6 am. At around 12 mos, a series of events (2 out-of-state trips and learning to pull up in the crib) caused his sleep to become "off" to say the least. He would go to bed pretty well, but his naps were 30 minutes long (usually they're 1-1.5 hrs, and 30 min simply doesn't restore or reset our little guy) and he was waking up at 3 or 3:30 every morning. At first, we weren't sure what to do or even what was wrong, but we finally started putting everything together and realized that he was suffering from sleep deprivation and it was only causing him to become more sleep deprived. So we went through 3-4 weeks of re-training his sleep habits and helping him catch-up on the sleep he had been lacking. Although I'm sure we didn't do everything right, we did eventually help him get back to his normal sleep routine, which we are so thankful for! {When Enoch was little, we learned a lot from Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth, and it has really helped us understand baby's sleep habits and needs. So that's what we looked to for some help when this sleep issue reared it's head.}
Likes- wrestling with Daddy, dog watching, reading books, stacking rings, putting objects in other objects, playing "where's the baby", getting out of the house & seeing people, being tickled (see video below), sorting tupperware, swinging
Dislikes- not getting his way {of course}, having to wait to nurse
When Coach got home tonight, he and his little guy had some fun practicing standing. We were pretty surprised at how long Enoch could stand on his own a few times... So I caught some of it on camera since I thought you all might enjoy seeing a glimpse into this phase of Little Man learning to walk. :)
I really enjoyed this chapter on Sarah Edwards, the theologian Jonathan Edwards' wife. For me, she is the most well-known woman of the five women that Noel Piper portrays in her biographical book, Faithful Women & Their Extraordinary God, so I was excited to learn more about her.
Overall, I appreciated the thoughtful way that Noel laid out this biography of Sarah's life. First, she set the story well by explaining many of the hardships that living in colonial America in the early 1700s brought to Sarah's everyday life. Noel also seemed to dig deep into many different resources to find gems of information about Sarah and her family that gave a fuller picture of their lives, which was necessary since Sarah herself didn't keep a journal. In addition, I loved the way Noel drew some of her own take-aways at the end of the chapter, noting how she had related to Sarah and how the story of Sarah's life had touched her.
After having read through this chapter a few different times now, I have tried to narrow the number of things that I specifically gleaned from Sarah's life. For me, personally, Sarah's life encouraged me to continue seeking to be faithful in the mundane parts of my life {Noel's subtitle for this chapter was "Faithful in the Mundane"}. Specifically, there were a three areas of Sarah's life that she excelled at that were encouraging to me: faithful wife, faithful mother, faithful hostess.
These three areas are ones that I am currently in the midst of and usually slightly overwhelmed by, and I don't even live with the hardships of that era! I was so encouraged by the way that Sarah shaped her daily life around her husband's calling. Such a humble attitude clearly placed him and his needs above her own, which is clearly the attitude that we are called to in Philippians 2. This has made me stop and think about ways that I can do this as well with Hugh.
I was also encouraged by Sarah's commitment as a mother to raising her children to know and fear the Lord. It seemed that she was continually in prayer for her children and that her means of discipline allowed her children to mature in obedience and personality. The list of contributions that the Edwards' family had made to society (such as 80 holders of public office, 66 physicians, 100 lawyers, etc.) astounded me and only reinforced how the faithfulness of one family in raising their children well can reach far into the future (p. 22).
Additionally, Sarah's role as a hostess gave me a good perspective on a few important characteristics I'd like to mimic. First, she was caring and noted well the personalities of those who stayed with her. She also seemed to be quite welcoming and hospitable, as her home was "well known, busy, and praised" (p. 25). And it seems that this hospitality only highlighted (rather than detracted from) her love for her husband and children. Although hospitality is not my strongest gifting, I do desire to become better at it because we aspire to have a very open and welcoming home. Hugh and I have experienced the blessing of such families/homes personally, and we feel that it is one of the best ways of living out our faith in Christ within the context of community. This was impressed upon me even more by some of the testimonies of how the Edwards family had loved those staying with them and how even the smallest of conversations had impacted those visitors' lives in great ways.
Well, that's all of my thoughts. For those of you who read along with me, how were you encouraged by Sarah Edwards' life? Do you find yourself struggling to be faithful with specific "mundane" things in your life? Post a comment below and share your thoughts!
I am so excited that we are now into December! Do you know why? Christmas is coming!! And as of this past Sunday, our family has begun preparing for Christmas by reading Advent readings.
I would say that for me personally, the advent readings are crucial in preparing my heart to celebrate Christ during the Christmas season. Having a daily passage that orients me toward Dec. 25th being the day of Christ's birth helps me have the right focus throughout each day leading up to the 25th. There are many Advent reading plans available on-line and in print, but this year I will be using this free ebook from Desiring God called Good News of Great Joy. (click the link to download it for yourself) I first heard about the release of this ebook from this blog post, and they give a good summary of it at both of the above links.
Having skimmed the ebook once now and read a few of the daily readings, it seems rather helpful and quite do-able. There is a daily scripture reading as well as a short devotional to go along with it. It's short enough to accommodate the busiest of schedules but also thoughtful enough to provide much fodder for meditation and further reading/study. Here's an excerpt about the purpose of this Advent ebook:
What I want most for Christmas this year is to join you (and many others) in seeing Christ in all his fullness and that we together be able to love what we see with a love far beyond our own half-hearted human capacities. This is our goal in these Advent devotionals. We want together to see and savor this Jesus whose first “advent” (coming) we celebrate, and whose second advent we anticipate. (page vi)
Whether you're an avid Advent reader or have never considered doing Advent readings, I'd like to invite you to join us in reading through this ebook as we prepare our hearts for Christmas. We are only 2 days into the advent readings, so there is plenty of time to catch up and benefit from this practice!! And if you're wondering what Advent means or why many Christians celebrate it, download the ebook and simply read the Preface. I hadn't ever heard of Advent until a few years ago, so don't feel dumb if this is the first time you've heard the word!! :)
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