All around gymnastic finals- Chaney style

On a day when it's too hot to play outside, all you have to do is push your dining room table out of the way and... VOILA!

 You have yourself a gymnasium. 

 It helps that we are all Olympics all the time. 

Gabby Douglas doesn't have anything on us.

Or maybe she does.

But still... we had lots of dining room gymnastics fun today. 

Father knows best

When King Solomon began his reign over Israel, the Lord appeared to him and desired to bless him.  You know the story- young Solomon didn't ask for riches or long life, but instead a discerning heart because in his words, "... I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties... For who is able to govern this great people of yours?"  (I Kings 3:7-9)

It's very clear to me when I tell my children that no, they can't watch TV all day or that yes, they will have to eat their vegetables before having dessert, that in doing so, I am loving them and teaching them what is best for them.  I know better than they do.

How often I forget to remember that even as I age, I must remain in child-like submission to my Heavenly Father and the leadings of his Holy Spirit.  He knows best.

Like John Piper points out in his interview on exercise as it relates to sanctification, we want the Lord to give us supernatural energy, but maybe He's already told us to go to bed earlier.  We ask for Him to overcome depression or anger in our hearts, but maybe He would have us go for a run to help. It's a beautiful concept in its simplicity- we are as children before Him and we must remain attentive to His direction in our lives, even in something as simple and ordinary as bed time and as seemingly non-spiritual as jumping jacks. 

It's true- our Father truly and always knows best. 

"Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Luke 18:17

Of course

It was five o'clock pm.  I was checking my schedule at work only to find out that 1.  I was booked until 7:00 pm and 2. Marcus Mumford of Mumford and Sons was the last person scheduled.  I was more upset about the former than I was excited about the latter.  Turns out, Marcus was 15 minutes late, but eventually came in and after my negotiations around the speech therapist who wanted him to hear her beautiful singing voice and thus be discovered, I was able to ascertain that Marcus had trouble with his hand and was coming for pediatric physical therapy because the hand is one of the smaller parts of the body after all.  

Oh, the things our brains dream up while we sleep.  

Inseparable

It's been almost 48 hours since cousin William careened out of the car greeting Zeke at their grandmother's house and they haven't left each other's side ever since.

Buddies for life.

On being strong

I woke up in Anna Grace's bed at 6:00 to Asher and Zeke's protests. It was another night of bed-shuffling- the boys settled themselves in my bed somewhere between midnight and 2:00 am.  I really don't know what happened.  I woke up thinking: "Already?" and  "It's starting already?"  and "Again?"

To be honest, I feel pretty guilty for thinking thoughts like this.  After all, there are so many people in the world who have struggles so much more difficult than mine.  I have these wonderful healthy kids and a great husband and everything I need.  Who am I to think that life is hard? 

Nevertheless, I think, "Already?" 

By the time dinner time comes and goes, I am completely wiped.  The day flies by and things are always, always left undone. 

But.

I feel like the Lord has been encouraging me to encourage one of my children to "be strong in the Lord" as in Joshua 1:9.  As in the hymn that keeps playing over and over in my head.   And then I realize that the post-it note that I have in my Bible says to "Be strong in the Lord" (of course).  It just keeps popping up over and over again.

So maybe it's not just for my children, but for me, too.

Maybe I am to press in and BE STRONG IN THE LORD because if I'm not, how can I expect my children to be? 

So hopefully, come tomorrow's wake-up call, I can press in and press onward, drawing strength not from myself, but from the Lord.

 ^"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power."  Ephesians 6:10

Our strength will fail us.  But His will not.  
 

Twinkling

Evening glory

 Moonflower, datura, by day....

 ...and by night. 

A Gem of a Friend

Every Tuesday night, our male counterparts at church get together for basketball.  Within the next couple days, our friend Lee writes up a witty commentary about said basketball game.  So since the guys have such fun write ups, I thought that it only made sense to answer for us girls.  I will undoubtedly fail to be as entertaining, but here goes nothin'....


Carrie and Marcia sent the evites and "got the ball rolling" for a surprise soiree to bless Caroline as she prepares to move west.  We were all prepared to give the best party we've given to date.  As we took our positions around the table at Indigo, we formed a quick huddle anticipating Caroline's imminent arrival.  Bethany brushed up on her tissue-paper folding skills while Sarah worked up a sweat doing lunges with her camera to get a picture at just the right angle.  Everyone brought presents in keeping with the theme- that Caroline is a "gem of a friend-" and we gave each other huge high fives (especially Jennifer G) as we lined up all the little gifts on the table.  There were a couple of mascots at the table that we all cooed over as their newborn little hands and feet gave us just the extra momentum we needed for a huge cheer of surprise that we needed to give the honoree as she came through the door.  As we held our breath for the big moment, none other than Rendi "I live in Texas" Wiggie walked through the door at which point the crowd went wild!  We recomposed ourselves, however, like good Southern women, and then we all nailed the proverbial three pointer when Caroline walked through the door, surprised and moved to tears at the gesture.  SCORE!  We dribbled and passed the gifts to one another, Doneen (Bob's counterpart) DOMINATED (and I don't know what that means- I just felt like I had to say it since Bob is such the basketball hero), we killed some curried chicken and rice, Tiffani brought home the game clenching goal with her poodle gift, and a good time was had by all.

We love you, Caroline, and we will be praying for the Lord's hand to be all over your move and this next chapter of your life!

Can't wait til next time, girls.

Love you all.

Living up to his name

 "About Asher he said:

'Most blessed of sons is Asher;
    let him be favored by his brothers,

   ...and let him bathe his feet in oil...'" Deuteronomy 33:24

“Asher’s food will be rich; he will provide delicacies fit for a king."  Genesis 49:20

 "Then Leah said, 'How happy I am! The women will call me happy.' So she named him Asher."  Genesis 30:13

Because sometimes the ordinary moments are the best moments

 
elephant costume * vegetable soup * nonsensical knock knock jokes * Thursday dinner

Glimpsing the invisible

I have an inner science geek that just gets the best of me sometimes.

Like tonight when I was glued to the Nova documentary on String Theory, I was absolutely mesmerized as Brian Greene explained how this one theory attempts to merge both gravity and electromagnetism and quantum mechanics into one explanation of the entire universe.

Or the other night when my unsolicited thoughts on dark matter and dark energy sent me on what probably wasn't an all too coherent explanation of the latest book I've been reading to my friend Rendi.

So why I'm attempting to connect thoughts on the space-time continuum with how I feel God's presence at 10:30 pm after a long day is really beyond me, but I've been stewing on it for a while, so what the heck.

The thing is, if it's true that the visible realm only makes of 4% of the universe and some sort of enigmatic dark matter and dark energy that we can't see comprises the rest, it only makes sense to really search out the unseen things.

"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:18


It's probably pretty mystical of me to even say that one can sense or feel this unseen realm, but nevertheless, I feel it.

And not only do I feel it, I feel it in varying ways and at different times, but none more strongly than when I'm with a group of believers who are bound together by the Spirit, heads bowed in reverence to the One who gives life and light and truth.

This Great Force has bound me to a group of seven other believers with whom I've shared deep sorrow and great joy with over the course of the past eight years.  When I'm with them, I feel like I sense the unseen and hear the unspoken and glimpse the glory and holiness of God.

This Great Force is the witness to and keeper of the covenant I've made in marriage to my husband.

In the early morning as I gather to pray with some of my sisters in Christ, this Great Force will be among us, beckoning us to Himself.

I'm aware of my smallness and my absolute ignorance of what is unseen, but still, pondering the science of the vast universe of all things invisible makes me love and trust God even more.

It's mind-bending love and confusing kinds of grace that the Lord has for us.

I'm as blind as the road side beggar calling out to Jesus for healing.

I can't wait until I can really see.  

Never despair

"Never despair of a child.  The one you weep the most for at the mercy-seat may fill your heart with the sweetest joys." 
 T.L. Cuyler

Crash bang boom

Our July 4th at Be Be and Pop Pop's house was a blast if you'll excuse the pun.

And watching Zeke is always more exciting than the fireworks themselves.

Full House 2012

Reunioning

Trader Joe's!

breakfast

dinner prep

Korrie's meatballs

spray park

cars

legos

reminiscing

a little exercise

Mexican coke

slip and slide

dessert

Union Station in downtown Kansas City

train watching

nose piercing

nail painting

round one

round two

round three

round four

kids to bed and prayer/share

 What didn't we do this past weekend?