Monday, April 30, 2012

Happy 19 Months Troy!

It is hard to believe how quickly you are approaching 2 years old! You still seem so young (I think because you are young compared to your older sister), yet also like you are getting so big!

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You are quite the talker. You talk really fast, and though we understand a lot of what you say, you often talk so fast we don’t know what you are saying. You do speak in sentences . . . often it is something like “I want a cheez-it!” or “I need a bite!” (and, yes, you actually say “cheez-it”). You continue to do a good job communicating with us even if it isn’t with words.

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You still aren’t a fan of car rides, but you are more content when we let you watch a movie. You LOVE watching “Finding Nemo.” When you get in the car you often say “Mo, Mo” (for “nemo”). You also are not a fan of going out to eat. We *think* maybe that you don’t like all the busy activity going on around you, combined with the fact that you can’t get down and “go!”

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You really enjoy playing with bubbles. In fact, when you used to be sad when we would drop you off at Bible class, the teachers could easily distract you with the bubbles!

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You’ve started becoming more interested in coloring/drawing, but it doesn’t hold your attention for long. You are quite the goofball – you love to get everyone’s attention by doing silly things. You are very interested in “things” – you are a hands on kind of guy. When I took your 18 month pictures, you collected a bunch of rocks and put them on the box I brought for you to sit on. You are also getting pretty good at putting these toy pegs we have together.

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You continue to love playing with the dogs. You’ll chase both of them around, but Ali is patient enough to let you lay by her when you are sleepy. It is so sweet!

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You got your first big bump on your head this month. You took it like a trooper though!

 

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Signs you do: more, finished, milk, hungry, thank you, please, thirsty, sleepy, bath

Words you say: No way I can even count or name them! You say so many things!

Animal noises you make: chicken, duck, cow, dog {although you prefer to say “quack, quack!” the first time we ask you about most animal noises}

Body parts you identify: nose, eyes, mouth, ears, hair, head, hands, belly, teeth, tongue

Favorite foods: You are still a finicky eater in that one day you like something and the next you don’t. Generally, your favorites are banana, beans, cheese, and crackers (although the type of cracker changes . . . }

Favorite activities: walking (and pretty much running!) and exploring everything, especially following Ella or chasing a dog; reading books; watching Blue’s Clues or Finding Nemo; taking baths; playing with balls (you love to throw any kind of ball); playing outside; playing with toys, especially talking on the phone or putting things over your head or playing with the kitchen stuff; trying get any electronics or drinks you can spot.

Troy @ 18 months

Ella @ 19 months

Drafting Dinner: Weekly Menu Planning

  • Hamburger steak with rice and green beans
  • Migas and fajitas (never got to this last week)
  • Homemade pizza (also didn’t get to last week)
  • Chicken pot stickers (maybe with an Asian slaw salad)
  • Chicken breast with couscous and a green veggie

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Drafting Dinner: Weekly Menu Planning

I've been a bit too slack in my menu planning lately (or perhaps actually executing the menus I have planned). Hopefully I'll be back on track this week!

  • Hurry up chicken pot pie
  • Chicken enchilada casserole
  • Sweet bacon chicken with a veggie and another side (I can't decide what!). I'm going to try to make a version of Paula Deen's sweet chicken bacon wraps - I love the brown sugar-bacon-chili combination, but these take forever to make (at least in my experience) so rather than making them as bites I'm going to try to do a variation using thinly slice chicken breasts.
  • Migas and beef fajitas. I love migas, but I've never actually attempted making them.
  • Homemade pizza

Monday, April 16, 2012

5 Reasons to Teach Your Children About God

I know a lot of people say that they want to teach their children about God. Sadly, it seems many people who say they want to teach their children about God don’t actually teach their children about God, whether that be that they do not teach them about the Bible or that they do not live the lives necessary to teach their children about God. I don’t want to be either of those types of people. I want to teach my children the Bible and live the type of life that God has called us to live. I’m not perfect – I don’t claim to be - and I know that I will make mistakes, but I’ve got to be striving to teach my children because their souls are in my hands. This list could be much longer, but here are just a few reasons I believe I need to teach my children about God.

  1. As a Christian, I’m commanded to teach. The command to teach in Matthew 28:18-20 (as well as other passages) doesn’t exclude my children. Additionally, God has always called on parents to teach their children about Him. Consider Deuteronomy 6:6-9: “6And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
  2. So that they can be saved from their sins. At this point in their lives, my children are still too young to have sin on their record. Children are not born with sin. But, if my children continue to grow up, eventually they will sin, and with that comes separation from God. I must teach them about God so they know how to be saved from their sins.
  3. So that they can spend eternity in heaven. This goes right along with the previous point: the only way they can spend eternity in heaven is to be saved from their sins, and I want them to understand what the Bible teaches about how to get to heaven. After all, we’re going to be judged by Christ’s word (John 12:48).
  4. So that they can tell others about God. My children will likely have opportunities for evangelism that I may never have. They’ll come into contact with people I may never meet. They’ll have unique personalities and experiences that make them ideal for talking to someone about God that I may not have.
  5. So that they can exhibit the characteristics of godliness. My children cannot exhibit the characteristics of godliness without knowing God. If I want them to be pure, truthful, kind, loving, merciful, gracious, humble, compassionate, patient, and faithful (only naming a few of the characteristics of godliness), I must teach them about God and His ways.
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Drafting Dinner: Weekly Menu Planning

  • Chicken enchilada casserole
  • Hurry up chicken pot pie
  • Hamburgers with grilled corn
  • Pasta with meat sauce
  • Asian slaw salad

Friday, April 13, 2012

The Seriousness of Sin and the Bible’s Answer (a reflection from Jamaica)

It is hard to believe that a month ago I was in Jamaica, along with 17 others, for a mission trip. I intended to write this post almost as soon as I returned home, but as usual, life gets busy, and I didn’t make the time to write the post as one of the many reflections I had from my trip.

I’ve now been blessed with the opportunity to go to Jamaica specifically for the purpose of spreading God’s Word three times. Each experience has taught me a lot; not only about myself, my fellow workers, and the Jamaican people, but also, and most importantly, the power of the Gospel. God’s Word is powerful, and does bring salvation to those who are willing to obey it.

Romans 1:16: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.”

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Teaching the Gospel in Jamaica also reminds me of the seriousness of sin and why we need salvation from sin. Sin, transgression of God’s law (1 John 3:4), separates us from God (Isaiah 59:1-2).  Once we reach an age of understanding, we all sin (Romans 3:23), and because of sin, are worthy of death (Romans 6:23). Our sin separates us from God, and condemns us to a place of everlasting punishment for eternity (Matthew 25:31-46).

Thankfully, God sent His Son, giving us the gift of salvation if we choose to accept it. However, we must realize that there are certain things that God says we must do to accept His gift of salvation - to be washed of our sins so that we are no longer separated from Him. The Bible teaches that to be saved – to come to God - and be cleansed from our sins we must hear and understand God’s Word (John 6:45), believe that Jesus is the Son of God (John 8:24), confess that Jesus is the Son of God (Romans 10:10), repent of our sins (Acts 17:30), and be baptized (immersed) (Mark 16:16). One example of conversion recorded for us in the Bible is found in Acts 8:26-40. There we see the account of the Ethiopian eunuch: Philip taught the eunuch about Christ (Acts 8:30-35), the eunuch believed in Christ (Acts 8:37), he repented (Acts 8:36), he confessed Jesus as the Son of God (Acts 8:37), and was baptized (Acts 8:38). Notice that the eunuch’s joy comes after his baptism (Acts 8:39), not before. Sadly, some men have perverted God’s Word teaching that baptism isn’t essential to salvation. Consider some of the things that happen at the point of baptism: we receive remission (forgiveness) of sins (Acts 2:38); our sins are washed away (Acts 22:16); we are saved (1 Peter 3:21); and we are added to the church (Acts 2:47).  If sin separates us from God, how can we be right with Him if our sins have not been washed away?

For further discussion about what God teaches through the Bible about how to receive salvation, I encourage you to listen to this lesson by Brother Dan Winkler about becoming a child of God. As always, I’d love to discuss this further with you as well – you can email me (beingwhatiwanttobe at gmail dot com) or write in the comments below.

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Thursday, April 5, 2012

Time is Valuable

Since about the beginning of March, I’ve felt like we’ve been going non-stop. Mostly the things that have kept us busy have been wonderful, exciting, important things. However, when we are SO busy I really start to evaluate my time more. Am I spending my time wisely? Am I spending my time on things that are important? Am I wasting time? Am I spending time on things that benefit my family? Am I spending time on things that distract me from my family?

I know that I waste a lot of time. Too much time. I spend too much time on things that don’t matter. Things that suck my precious time away – something that I can’t get back. I realize that in a lot of ways I really need to simplify my life so that I’m surrounded by less “time-wasters.” For instance, clearing out the lengthy list of blogs in my google reader. Don’t get me wrong – I love reading blogs, but I had a ton of blogs in my list that I never actually read anymore – some that I simply just clicked “next” on all the time. Sifting through the clutter of the blogs that I wasn’t reading anymore was taking away valuable time.

I also consider the amount of time I spend working on/cleaning up/organizing the house. There are so many things that we have in our house that we don’t even use or haven’t touched in a long time. I want to clear that stuff away. When it is cleared away, there will be fewer physical things that need to be cared for around the house – which is a great thing on many levels. I also need to keep up with my Flylady daily assignments, which really DO make my life simpler and help me be more efficient with the time I spend working around the house.

In our ladies class we’ve been studying through a book called Because I Said So by Celine Sparks. One of the points she brought out is that we often spend too much time trying to “find time” rather than making it a priority to get the things done we ought to do. When we try to “find time” we rarely actually find it because we haven’t made those things a priority. I can’t simply “find time” to study my Bible or “find time” to spend reading books to my children or “find time” to pray to God– I have to allocate time for those precious activities.

You didn’t need to read the title of my post or the content of this blog to know that time is valuable. But I needed the reminder to make the most of my time and to spend it wisely because it is valuable.