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Category: love

Emma Grace Elizabeth, 2/26/09

Emma Grace Elizabeth, 2/26/09

and twelve hours later …

8 lbs, 15 oz
11:31 pm
20 1/2″ long

We are at home now – happy, healthy, and enjoying each other. I’ll post more pictures and a bit about Emma later, as the time comes! For now, Mom posted a play-by-play on her blog. She, Julia and Ben are coming tomorrow, so I’ll get back to you when I can! Maybe when Grandma is holding Emma … :)

feb. 23: the determination to serve

feb. 23: the determination to serve

“If we are devoted to the cause of humanity, we shall soon be crushed and broken-hearted, for we shall often meet with more ingratitude from men than we would from a dog; but if our motive is love to God, no ingratitude can hinder us from serving our fellow men.”
-o. chambers

Baby update

Baby update

So, today the little pregnancy ticker reads, “40 weeks and 0 days pregnant”, which means that today we have officially reached our baby’s “due” date. And at this point, since the crib is still empty, it looks as if she just might be “late”.

In light of that, we scheduled an induction appointment at the hospital for the 26th, at 7 a. m. (ike! that sounds early!), and are praying that we don’t have to keep it. I am a little skittish about the whole idea of inducing labor, even though I know that if that is the way God wants our baby to be born, it will work out fine. I just would greatly prefer to go into labor naturally. Either way, though, His plan is perfect, He is sovereign, and He will take care of us. We are very eager to be able to finally hold her in our arms, and not just feel her through my tummy, but it felt so odd to be choosing her possible birthday!
Little One, we love you, and can hardly wait to see your little face!
quote to ponder today

quote to ponder today

“God began to teach me that there is a huge difference between “entertaining” and offering hospitality. Entertaining puts the emphasis on you and how you can impress others. Offering hospitality puts the emphasis on others and strives to meet their physical and spiritual needs so that they feel refreshed, not impressed, when they leave your home.
“…like so much of life, it all comes down to the motives of your heart. Are you trying to impress others, … [o]r are you trying to refresh them and point them toward the Lord?”

This quote thoroughly resonated with me, and I practically stumbled upon it!

It happened as I was moseying my way through Amazon, clicking on the “if you liked this you might like this” links, found this book (which had a “search this book” option, so I thought I would electronically thumb through it). Wow. It looks really good, well written and scriptural, her writing style is conversational yet concise, and inspiring. But our library doesn’t have it, so I’m putting it on my wish list. Of course, I could also pull out a few of the other books discussing hospitality that I have around someplace…
baby’s new dress

baby’s new dress

I used some rasberry colored linen that I had been saving, and the scraps left from the little blanket (with touches of pink!) that I made just after we heard that we are having a girl.
Sewing and knitting for her has been so much fun, and it will only get better when she will actually use the little things! Just picturing a chubby little one -with red curls? – crawling and toddling around in them is wonderful.

the nursery

the nursery

I am totally in love with Baby’s room. There are times that I walk and just sit and look and dream. She’ll be here so soon, and yet that time still feels so far away. It still seems unreal that in a few weeks there will be a real live baby here, sleeping, blinking, yawning, needing us. Our Baby.

I love this room.

Because it is on the North side of the building, the light is soft and glowy, kind of dreamy. I added a few more “bird” things to it, and now it almost feels complete.

Almost.
embodied worship

embodied worship


With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an intelligent act of worship, to give Him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to Him and acceptable by Him.

Romans 12:1, Phillips

In pregnancy and childbirth, I do one of the most amazing physical feats humans can do: I present my body as a living sacrifice for the sake of creating by God’s power another person. I would like to think this is how all sacrifice should feel in the religious life: the hurts don’t go away, but eventually they make one glad. They are markers on that path to wonder.
Debra Rienstra
Great With Child, p. 89
Whatever, therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
I Corinthians 10:31
more mommy-mades

more mommy-mades

Last night I finished a little cloche for Baby, altering the pattern a little from the one in The Expectant Knitter.
this pic isn’t true to color, but it shows the flower

Wonderful Love

Wonderful Love

Yesterday I found an article titled “His Love Stories“, by Elisabeth Adams.

“The Bible tells us that Jesus is the Word made flesh. I like to think that, in a small way, each of us is also the Word made flesh; that each of us has a story in which the kindness of God is made visible to the world. Think how clear His kindness is in your salvation story. And when you listen to the salvation stories of others, don’t you see how unique is the way He captures each of our hearts?
“That’s why my favorite love stories are true ones. In fact, I’ve probably read or heard the stories of nearly 150 Christian couples, each one as unique as a fingerprint. Some couples called it “courtship,” some called it “dating,” and some met and married long before the terms acquired their present meanings. God’s kindness is evident in them all.”

It’s a good article, reminding us of God’s creativity in pursuing and wooing us. After I read it I started to think of the many ways that God is still wooing me – because one of the wonderful things about the Almighty is that He is our Eternal Lover, never content to let our relationship with Him to grow stale. And not just the ways He woos me, but those around me.
It may not always feel loving or look beautiful in the moment – just as in any long term relationship there are periods of pain – but looking back I can see that He has always been loving, always been faithful to care for my heart.
What a wonderful God.

preparing for our little one

preparing for our little one

I’ve been working on another sweater for Baby, this one a little bit bigger than the first. The pattern is from The Expectant Knitter, and the yarn is a merino and bamboo blend. All that’s left are the sleeves, and putting on our Little One, of course.