let the redeemed of the Lord say so

i've been reading through the book of psalms this month.  five chapters a day will get you through the whole book in a month, and you can read psalm 119 alone on its own day if your month has 31 days in it ;).

psalm 106 and 107 recount the Lord's guidance and blessing on His people, how He led them and cared for them, and it made me think about the ways He has blessed me.

so i wrote my own psalm, and while i wrote i was just completely overwhelmed.
because God is good.
all the time.
all the time, God is good.

My Psalm.

You brought me into a large family
And surrounded me with love.
You gave me warriors for siblings;
Shepherds for parents.

Prayer covered my youth,
Your Word guided my childhood.

From want and from violence, You preserved me, O Lord.
I will praise You forever.

You brought me through fear, through love, to Your safe side.
You welcomed me into Your family.

You guided me, led me,
Through the wilderness of adolescence.

You crowned me with dear friends
You comforted me with books
You challenged me with learning.

You inclined my heart toward You,
You called me to follow You;
You took me to Zambia
(Zambia!)
And showed me glimpses of Your heart.
You brought me safely through the dam, the dangers,
You brought me back in peace.

You filled me with longing
I hope in Your Name.
Yours are my days
My going, my returning, are Yours.

You blessed me with love and family
My nieces, my nephew, my joy
You granted me delight upon delight
And whispered Your path to my heart.

You provide for all our needs
You bless us with abundant love
With each other, with Sam.

You have poured out grace upon us
And our hearts burst with
Thanksgiving.

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Janelle and Patrick
From everlasting to everlasting!

snuggles

dear sam,

last night you were so irresistibly adorable.

you are always a wonderful baby, but you're not particularly snuggly.  you like to give hugs and kisses, and you love to be tickled, but you don't often just sit still for a cuddle, or cuddle back.  you like to be on the move!

but last night, you woke up when papa and i came to bed.  you held out your arms and when i picked you up you snuggled into me soooo much i almost died.  you wrapped your little arms around me and held tight and nuzzled your face into my neck. 

it was bliss.  i stood by your crib in the chilly dark, just bursting with happiness while you hugged me for a long long time.

then you saw your papa, and smiled like the sunrise, and did the same thing to him.

you are the dearest boy in the world. 

we love you.

gift

patrick picked me (& sam) up today and we grabbed lunch together.  he said he wanted to do something fun tonight - maybe a movie? - and asked if i could try to find a babysitter.
i told him i would call some teenagers from church once school let out to see if they were free/able to sit with sam.
i did some errands, and popped in to see my friend chrissy at work.
the first thing she said to me was "ohh, i meant to call you this morning.  i think it's time you and patrick had a date."
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i hadn't even asked.  or mentioned anything.
she just said it.
so, God gave us a babysitter and we had an awesome night.
thanks, friend!

before they call, I will answer; while they are yet speaking, I will hear.  Isaiah 65:24

conversation with sam

this morning sam and i had a little chat.

sam: yawn.
me: hey son, are you sleepy?
sam: I'M NEVER GOING TO BE SLEEPY AGAIN!  GET ME OUT OF HERE!  TAKE ME OUT IN THAT HORRIBLE WEATHER SO I CAN BE AROUND ANYBODY WHO IS NOT YOU!
me: ha. that is what you'd say, isn't it?  guess it's about time for a nap.
sam: yawn.

sillies

my men keep making me laugh.

i had this awesome conversation with patrick last night:

j (surfing online): ohh, i'd love baking rings!
p (confused): what do they do?
j: let you bake anything in flat circles - little cakes of anything, like potato, or mini-meatloaf, you know.
p: *_* (mind is blown)
p: (thinking for a few minutes) what kind of rings again?
... j: baking.
p: ohhhh. i thought you said bacon.
j: (pauses, realizes p thought she meant rings made of bacon. the kind of rings that go on your finger. one ring to rule them all, one ring to bind them, one ring to give you magical kitchen powers ...)
j: *_* (mind is blown.)

 

:)  don't you wish your conversations were magical like ours? ;)

and this morning, i found sam dressed like this in his crib.  i guess he's planning to be a '70s rockstar ... or at least dress like one.  foxy chest, samjam!

(this sleeper has what patrick calls "hard snaps" ... aka buttons ... apparently sam doesn't find them so hard!)

 

the waiting

advent.

counting down to christmas is kind of special.  in a connected-to-the-past sort of way, and a connected-to-the-future kind of way. 

the hebrew people did - waiting for the Messiah.

mary did, and joseph - waiting for Jesus' birth.

believers have long been waiting on the Lord. 

david did.  over and over, he knew what it was to wait.  and he encourages those waiting:  be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord! -psalm 31:24

but what to do in the waiting?  when weariness overtakes, and the Lord seems far away and we wonder if He will ever come?

what mary did.

praise Him.

so when you're singing your carols all advent long, rejoice!  rejoice!  He is coming.  He is coming.

shout for joy in the Lord. (ps 33:1)

done.

enjoying the sweet rush of success in a job - well, done!

the goal of nanowrimo isn't so much to write a wonderful novel.  it's more about completing one.

and i totally did.

goals for december?

-sleep.  oh blessed sleep!
-show patrick how grateful i am for all he put up with in november.  (on top of suffering through the crankiness of my 4-hour-sleep-self, he took sam for walks so i could write.  one sam-less hour is easily the equivalent of ten sam-hours.)
-contemplate christmas.  (i've always thought of christmas as a fun time to spend with family, to give gifts of love, to eat bursty little oranges.  but this year, i want to soak up the fact that Jesus came down so far, down so small, came so humbly as a baby.)
-love my family. with gifts.  with words.  with time.  with a clean house.  with snuggles.

i know, patrick is woefully absent.  but we're going to take family pics later this month ;)

how about you?  anything you're striving for this month?

xo.