The Apples and the Tree

Where do they get this from?! 

On second thought...

P.S.  For those of you who do not know me, I'm sorry for this introduction.  For those of you who do know me, thank you for your unconditional love.  You do love me, right?

A Poem

There is to me a wonderful

Sweet and special thing.

It's name is music to my ears

And makes me want to sing.

Oh, chocolate, oh, chocolate,

I love to eat some chocolate.

I want to eat it every day,

I love to eat a lot of it.

This passion that I have will sound

Unnatural to some,

But really chocolate's by far

The best of nature's balms.

I say once more that I so love

That silky remedy,

Sweet or bittersweet and rich-

A chocolate kind of treat.

Christian

There are so many things I could say about Christian.  He is an amazing little guy, he has such a sweet heart, he is very loving, smart, creative, and funny.  Many people, sometimes total strangers, have said to me,"He has such a contagious laugh!"  I want to share about my time with Christian lately.

We played a game this afternoon that he brought home from school called "Rolling On."  Here is the "board":

We took turns rolling two dice, counting the total spots on the two dice and then coloring the corresponding box above the number.  The winner of the game was the first number to "reach" the top.  In our game it happened to be six.  He filled in the blank at the bottom with a "6" and I asked if he could write out the word by sounding it out.  He looked up and said the word to himself and wrote an "S" and then figured the rest out.  This is what our finished game board looked like:

 

What are they teaching him over there anyway?! 

Here is a story that I hope will be like a little window into the heart of this complex child of ours.  We are going to a birthday party for a friend of Michaela's tomorrow.  Christian is just as excited as Michaela is and has been looking forward to it all week.  Tonight after I put Eliana down to sleep I came out where Mike and Christian were.  Christian had just brought something out of the schoolroom all wrapped up and was showing it to Mike.  I heard him say that it was the Rainforest book (a book from my parents that is very cool).  I also heard something about giving it away.  I walked in on the tail end of a conversation, I think.  Without asking any questions I said,"We're not giving that book away!" 

Poor Christian!  He was crushed.  His llittle body sagged down, shoulders hunched forward, head drooped, and he started crying.  Mike tried to explain quickly that he had just spent a lot of time wrapping this book as a gift for our friend, and that he was excited to give it to her.  I saw everything in such a different light-what a sweet boy!  He was eager to give up something of his own in order to make someone else happy.  Mike and I both told him how nice that was, and commented on his wrapping job:

Note how he used two different kinds of paper "to make it extra beautiful" for our friend.  He was quite pleased that he had done that all by himself.  Really, he did quite a good job.  I love how thoughtful he is, and how he was totally thinking of someone else in this situation. 

A similar story is from Tuesday.  We were at Christian's soccer game and each boy brings a water bottle for rehydrating after all their running around.  One little boy on Christian's team ran out of water and I heard him go up to his mom and tell her that his water was gone.  A little later I heard her say to Christian,"Way to show kindness to someone else, Christian," because he had poured some of his water into his friend's bottle.  I loved hearing someone else acknowledging his kind choice, building him up so that he can hopefully make more good choices like that one.  He got to see in a very practical way how his small sacrifice benefitted another person. 

My favorite story is actually a video. 

These are just a few things that I think really show Christian's heart.  He's such a sensitive, funny, smart guy.  These are the things I want to cultivate in his character, always with the hope that he will truly grow into his name.

Matthew 25:31-46

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

 "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

 "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

 "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

 "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

 "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

 "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

 "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

These words are haunting me a bit right now.  Something happened earlier today that I can't quite get over.  I had an opportunity to show Michaela (she and Eliana were in the car with me) what it can look like to minister to someone in physical need and I let it pass.  I was guided by fear instead of compassion, distrust instead of love.  And thinking about that passage makes me tremble.  I know that God is not vindictive, but He is just.  And sometimes I am so conflicted about my own role in His plan for justice.  Or even kindness.  When it says so plainly that we are to care for those who are hungry ("Can you help me get something to eat?"), or thirsty, or unclothed, and we know it, yet we turn away from those people, or that person...can we be so bold as to ask for forgiveness?  I know what the Bible says about forgiveness too.  I think that I can and ought to seek God's forgiveness.  I wish I could ask for hers as well.  I pray for wisdom about what to do in the future when I am confronted with a choice, when I am looking into the face of need, when Jesus asks me,"What will you do for me?"   May God help me to know the appropriate, compassionate, loving resonse to offer.  I pray that fear would be conquered, distrust would be overthrown, and that I might be able "to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with [my] God."

A Chair By Any Other Name...

A Chair: 

 or an armoire?

A Chair:

 

or a linen closet?

A Chair:

or a door frame?

A Chair: 

 or a hat rack/bag hook?

 A Chair:

or a dresser?

I think multi-functional furniture is underrated!