April Trip to Riverbanks Zoo

Since it's a Saturday night and the baby's in bed and Paul's at work, I decided I would spend a little time catching up. I've been meaning to do this for a while, but well, I'm lazy.

Back in April, Paul, Parker, and I went to Riverbanks Zoo for the day. I had been wanting to go for awhile. Since the weather was nice, we headed off to Columbia to the zoo. (Apparently, every elementary school decided it was also a lovely day to visit the zoo.) I took boo-goodles of pictures but since I have to save them to a jump drive and bring them over to my dad's computer to post them on the blog, I've been selective with a few. However, I must say I got some really great pictures of lots of animals, so sorry you're missing out.

I loved how Parker affectionately called this wild, huge, and large animal (possibly a human) eating feline "kitty." Yes, this animal is related to the domestic house cat, but I don't think "kitty" quite fits.

Paul and Parker enjoying a rest on the "kitty."

A little monkey buisness. Actually, this isn't a monkey it's an ape because it doesn't have a tail. I learned that by watching animal atlas. Can you believe that I have been wrongly calling a chimpanzee a monkey all these years?!

Parker checking out the chickens.

Parker got the bird's eye view at the penguin feeding. I love how he was holding on to Paul's hair.

Hungry elephants

Taking a ride on the tortoise.

"Here fishy fishy"

This is what we all needed at the end of a great day at the zoo. (That and a little Moe's too.)

28 Weeks!

I just wanted to do a little update on this pregnancy. I had a check up today. Everything is great and looking like it should be. In fact, I measured and weighed the exact same at this point as I did with Parker. I'm just hoping this baby will be less than 9.5 lbs. She is a very active little girl. I've had a lot more Braxton Hicks contractions with this pregnancy. One night I thought I was going to have to go to the hospital because I was having so many. I've been trying to drink plenty of water to keep them at bay which means now I go to the bathroom every 30 minutes. Oh the joys of pregnancy!

We are figuring out what we are going to do so that we can have a place of our own before baby number 2 arrives. We would appreciate any prayers on our behalf.

Parental Challenge

I've nearly finished reading Student Ministry and the Supremacy of Christ by Richard Ross. I must recommend this book to student ministers, church leaders, and especially parents of children and teenagers. This book is more than another model for student ministry. It is a challenge for a return to biblical living by putting Christ in his supreme seat of glory.

I just finished reading a chapter that focused on parents, and I wanted to share a prayer or a challenge in thinking for every parent. This passage was written as a declaration of a parent who is "awakened to the supremacy of Jesus, and more deeply adoring Him on His throne, and daily arising to join Him in His kingdom activity" to be able to express to their children.

I declare you belong to Christ the King.

If you and I both come to believe Christ is calling you to do something that involves risk, I will teach you all I know about how to live wisely and safely. At the same time, I will do nothing to stand in your way of following Christ's call, no matter what the risk.

I hereby release you from any pressure to follow in my vocational footsteps. I charge you to do only what Christ calls you to do.

I acknowledge Christ may call you to a vocation that does not bring financial wealth or worldly prestige. The great pride I will feel as a parent will come from watching you do what Christ has called you to do.

Someday you might be confronted by wicked people. They may only give you two options- curse God or die. I release you to honor God, even if it should cost you your life.

God often has used students to bring an awakening to Christ in the church. I pray God will honor our family by allowing you to be part of such a generation.

I now consecrate myself to both teach and live before you to prepare you for Christ's callings on your life.

Blessed be the name of the Lord.

That's how I want to raise my children. I hope that all parents who have a relationship with the Lord will do the same. All for the glory of God!

Neat Freak in the Making

I've noticed lately that Parker is showing signs that we could have a future neat freak on his hands. I must say that kind of thrills me. He likes to put his dirty clothes in the hamper. In fact, he's better than his daddy about picking up after himself. He likes to have his hands clean. His book basket has to be in a certain location at the end of the day or he'll fix it. He likes to put things away in their proper places. The other day he was playing with a Seasame Street school bus that came with an Elmo and Super Grover 2.0 figurine. He was putting Elmo and Grover in the seats, and he started fussing and kicking around out of frustration. I got him to bring it to me so I could help figure out the problem. I realized that he was getting upset when he would put the characters in and they would fall over. He was very particular about where they sat, and they HAD to be standing. I showed him how to fix the problem, and he was happy. I know some of these things are just characteristics of toddlers. Toddlers enjoy helping out. I hope he continues to enjoy helping out and being neat. Only time will tell.

By the way, he gets the neatness from me, certainly not his daddy.

A Prayer Testimony

"True prayer is not an effort to get Christ to do something. It is a desire to be in union with Him." - Richard Ross in Student Ministry and the Supremacy of Christ.

If you notice on my blog, I'm currently reading Student Ministry and the Supremacy of Christ. I'm reading it for several reasons. One is that it is one of the only books that we own that is not packed away in boxes in storage. Another is my husband is a student minister (although we are currently seeking a place to serve in this capacity), and I want to be the best helper and support of my husband I can possibly be. Most importantly, I want to learn more about the supremacy of Christ and have the awe I have for Christ in all His glory direct how I live my life. One of the chapters is about prayer and when I read the formentioned quote, I just stopped and examined my prayer life.

I'm disappointed to say that most of my prayers have been "an effort to get Christ to do something." Although I take full responsibility for my selfish prayers and total misuse of time talking with God, it is sad to think that this type of prayer is, for the most part, being taught in our churches today. We open up any event in the church with a "quick word of prayer" like we have to get that ritual out of the way so we can get on with the "good stuff." The Wednesday night Prayer meetings aren't really spent in prayer unless you count going over the prayer list and then sometimes covering up gossip by mentioning that so-and-so needs some prayer because...(this is where the juicy bit of gossip gets filled in.) Then, someone says a short prayer mentioning most of who was mentioned, and we get on with something else. Of course in every church there is always the someone/s that you can actually pray along with because they have said the same route prayer for 30 years now and you have it memorized by heart. I'm not trying to offend anyone here. I'm just being honest with my sin, and the sin that is plaging our churches today.

God has been working on me extra hard lately. Well, let me rephrase that. I've made the decision to not be satisfied with my walk with Christ as far as my growth is concerned. I've decided it is more joy to take a spiritual beating, if you will, and be transformed into the image of Christ than it is to continue in sin, no matter how comfortable that sin feels. God is and has always been working on me. I just haven't always been so open to it.

Lately, I've been learning more and more about the supremacy of Christ and what that means for my life. I've learned that Christ is it. I'm not living for Christ. However, Christ is living through me and in me. There is nothing else that matters but Him. Placing Christ in that supreme place has caused me to look at life in a completely different way. One of those ways is in my prayer life.

God has been tranforming my time talking with him away from the, "God, I need you to do this," into more of the desire to be in union with Him. Yes, as scripture says God wants to hear the desires of our hearts. That doesn't mean we give God a laundry list of things we want Him to do for us. Instead, our desires are to be His desires. That is what I've been learning. I love using the ACTS prayer tool. A- adoration: giving God the praise and glory that He so deserves. C-confession: confessing our sins. This happens really easily when you pray with adoration. When you come into the presence of a holy God, you can't help but to see yourself for the helpless sinner we truly are. T-thanksgiving: Thanking God also comes easy when you put Him in the proper place in your life and realize the grace and mercy He has given you, the helpless sinner. S-supplication: this is when we petition or make our requests known to God. Sadly, this is what most of our prayers are filled with and mostly they are usually more selfish in nature. Please don't misunderstand what I'm saying. It is not bad to pray for people. We should. However, our supplications should be made in joining with God's will for our lives and the lives of others and in realization that no matter what He is in control and we are not.

I have so enjoyed talking to God this way. It is refreshing to be in union with Him. Again, I'm not perfect, nor will I ever be. I just want to be like Christ in order to bring glory to Him. I hope that this testimony does just.

It's a...

GIRL! We found out yesterday that we will be welcoming a little baby girl into our family. We are so excited. Now I have to start figuring out nursery design and registry.

Lately

Parker has been growing so much lately. It is just so much fun watching him learn and explore his world. He has added some new words to his vocabulary: eat, ketchup, cookie. I know there's more but that's all I can think of right now. He loves to pick up the phone and say "dada" then he just starts jibbering. I wish I knew what he was "saying." I just love to hear him jibber jabber. Sometimes he even gets his hands all into it. He is definately a little boy. He likes to climb, crawl through obstacles (his favorite is underneath the dining room table), pick up sticks, dig in dirt, throw balls, and wrestle around. At least, at this age he still enjoys personal hygeine. Taking baths and brushing his teeth are two of his favorite activities. He's starting to hit the picky toddler eating. I just never know what he's going to be into from one day to another.

Lately, we've enjoyed the lovely, warm weather. We've taken many walks and played outside. Sometimes we go on short slow walks where he actually walks but we always have to stop under an acorn tree. Those little acorns are so facisnating, don't you know! Today for the first time I put him in a pair of shorts. He is so cute! I just love seeing those two inches of legs sticking out between the pants legs and his socks.

On Tuesday we will hopefully find out if we are having a boy or a girl. I can't wait to find out! Either way, I am happy. I'm just ready to know. I'm starting to get more and more excited about baby number 2. I feel the baby moving around a lot more now. I will try to soon post a pic of my baby bump. We only have internet on my daddy's computer, so I don't want to put all of our pics on his computer. Transfering pictures from one computer to another to post takes a little time and there's not always a lot of that with a toddler running around.

We are still praying for the next place of ministry. Paul had an interview with a church the other day, and we have been praying for the Lord's direction with that. Well, that's the happenings in our life lately. Nothing too exciting, but that's nice.