Smiles!

Levi is now smiling a lot!  He started smiling at about 2 weeks old but they were so brief it was impossible to catch on camera.  Now at 4 weeks, he is smiling tons.

I know this stage changes so fast and I'll forget all the incredibleness of it, so I'm trying to take it all in while I can.  One friend reminded me how awesome it is that we have the capability to take pictures and video to help us remember.  Years ago that wasn't an option!

Levi isn't the only one around here, that wears a smile!

Mornings like these make me smile.  It doesn't take long for me to change my perspective from, "I'm wasting time here snuggling with my newborn" to "No time is wasted snuggling with one of God's children!"

Levi loves to look up.  His head is always back trying to see all that's above him, I guess.  It seems to me, it would hurt his neck but he sure likes it. I can tell that he hears my voice and is really studying his mama face.

"Oh, my mama is so beautiful!"

These were taken yesterday at 5 weeks old.

I love this elephant but it is about as big as he is right now.

This is one of my favorite onesies because of the color and it says "Apple of my Eye".

This picture reminds of Popeye the Sailer Man!

Micah says so many darling this these days.  I wish I could remember them all.  We sing to him every night and he requests 4 songs never calling them by their actual titles.  Jesus Love Me is "the Bible song" The doxology is "the Amen song" and the funniest is Amazing Grace.  He calls it "the wretch song!" because He saved a wretch like me!

We also sing This Little Light of Mine and he holds up his foot as his light and we do all the motions with his toes!  You know, hide it under a bushel, No!  and Don't let Satan blow it out!  We blow on his toes and he giggles and giggles.

Just about every time Micah holds Levi like in the pictures above, I grab the camera and take their picture so now he tells me to.  As soon as they get situated, he says "Take my picture, ok?"

These two will be best buds one day soon and I get to experience it with them.  Thank you Jesus!

When God Speaks

Levi, above, at 2 weeks

Gazing out the window at 3 weeks old

This is how I've felt the last 2 months or more, trapped inside the house.  Well maybe not "trapped" but not happy about the ongoing heat we've been experiencing here in Texas this summer.  It was unbearable when I was pregnant.  I stayed home as much as possible only leaving the house to go to church on Sundays or to take the kids swimming at a friends house because that meant I could get in the water myself.  Now that Levi is living outside my body, I'm able to somewhat enjoy going outside if it's early morning or after dark.  We almost broke a record of 42 days in a row over 100* but missed it by 2 days.

  Right now it's 104*.

This might not be too big of a deal to you, but I love to be outside enjoying a cool breeze.  I don't mind the heat because I grew up in it living in Modesto, California.  At least there it cooled off at night.  We haven't been able to open our windows here for over 3 months because the temps drop to a warm 85* at night and the air feels stagnant.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining but just trying to communicate what you are probably NOT experiencing since it's been unseasonably cooler in most states besides ours this summer.

So back to my story.  For the past few months I've been dreaming about taking a vacation to someplace cooler to get out of this heat.  Normally, I'd pack up the kids and go to Colorado or in years past, we've taken a long weekend and rented a cabin in the Arkansas mountains to escape the heat for a reprieve.

Since I was expecting and now we have a newborn, this is an impossibility.  I just have to suck it up and endure it. . . but not without joy.  I have a choice.  I can grumble and complain and be downright discontent or . . . I can let God give me a new perspective.  And He did just that a few weeks ago on a Tuesday night.

I love baby yawns!

Tuesday night is when we go to a weekly prayer night at Gospel for Asia.  Usually someone shares a short devotional about something the Lord has been teaching them.  On this particular night, the speaker shared about suffering.  He spoke of how hot it's been and how easy it is when working outside to get dehydrated and how wonderful cold water is at a time like that.  It's so easy to be thankful for water when we really need it.  Then he shared about how our brothers and sisters in Christ who live in hostile countries in Asia suffer when they openly decide to follow Jesus.  It is very common for them to be banned from the community well.  They are then forced to drink pond water where the local people wash their clothes and let their cattle drink.  Their suffering means that they will most likely get diseases from the unclean water and could eventually die.

Gospel for Asia is working to bring clean water to some of these remote areas through providing wells called "Jesus Wells" where no one is banned from using them. Not only do they get the physical benefit of taking in clean water but the well also communicates God's love for all.  He died for us while we were yet sinners!   My small suffering of living in the Texas heat is bringing others new life! 

 God changed my perspective when I heard this message.  God spoke to my heart and gave me a glimpse of what he sees.  If only I could go to visit with my sisters and brothers in Christ across the world every few months to understand their plight better, I wouldn't grumble and complain about my circumstances.  I think I would endure them gladly so that others may live!

Now as I look outside and find myself wishing the weather was cooler, I remember what God told me that night.  He shared with me the plight of those whose suffering could mean death and he asks me to put aside my wishes for a season so that they might have life!