Dax Dropped By

I think he's cutting some new teeth.  What do you think?

See the first two?

We played some patty cake...

And threw them in the pan.

He's looking at me with wide-eyed anticipation over what's coming next.

Ride a little horsey!

Don't you fall down!

I love this age.

The Wright Kids

I found some photos on my camera I never posted!    Here we go...

Olivia was dancing so I found a scarf for her to dance with.

She was so energetic that Andy, the dog, began chasing her.

And she ended with a bow.

Meanwhile the Wright Brothers were enjoying a bubble bath.

A BIG bubble bath!

1st God-Sized Answer!

Just Sunday, I posted a blog about asking God for some God-Sized answers to prayer.  The third thing I listed was "I have a friend who needs to see God move in her husband's heart and mind."  And I'm here to tell you that she has.  She has seen God move on her husband's heart and mind....like we've never seen before.

And I'm so proud of her.  It was amazing.  There was no control, no manipulation, no pressuring...just simply sitting back and waiting in confidence that if it was meant to be, God would work.  He would assure her husband of the direction to go. 

And He did.  It was totally unlike him, totally out of the ordinary, totally God.  And it was amazing!!

I can't wait to see what God does next!

God-Sized Prayer

I've decided to pray God-Sized prayers. 

• I have kids who need to sell a house in Florida and who need their adopted daughter to come home from Ethiopia.
• I have a friend whose husband was killed in an accident and needs to see God move in her circumstances.
• I have a friend who needs to see God move in her husband's heart and mind.
• I know several marriages which need redemption and restoration.
• I know a family who just lost their 4-year-old son to a disease.
• I know a man who needs encouragement and help from God.
• I have friends who have a lot of money at stake in a God-venture and need Him.

"For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong in behalf of those whose hearts are blameless toward Him..."  II Chronicles 16:9

I want to see God-Sized answers!

Bank of America Office

Amy had asked me to keep my eyes open for a set of office phones for her kids.  She thought they'd love to have them to play office.  I was at Dub's (our local junk store) yesterday and found these.  Even though they're not office phones, I thought the grandkids would have fun playing with them at my house--and they were clean!  So I made a big $6 purchase.  Just so you know, they are now the Bank of America phones.

Ryan & Addie are visiting and the phones became an immediate hit.  Addie keeps wanting to put her name on her phone (possession is a difficult thing at Grandma's house!), but I told her we couldn't.  But it doesn't keep her from asking...again...and again.

This morning at breakfast, they were already at play.  Addie answers her phone as, "This is Selena at Bank of America."  She has a great office voice.  Ryan is Ryan, the bank president.  I am Ms. Margaret--the bank flunky.  I got off on the wrong foot on my first day of work by answering the phone as "Wells Fargo...this is Margaret.  May I help you?"  Mr. Ryan looked at Selena in shock!  I had to tell the people on the line that they had the wrong number and slammed the phone down.

So the day started off as a huge surprise call to Mr. Ryan.  He hung up his phone with huge eyes and a big smile---we were all getting 3000 pieces of money!!  What a windfall. 

So Ms. Margaret was instructed to take notes of what we would use this 3000 pieces of money for.  With Mr. Ryan, there was no philanthropy involved.  (If you click on the above photo, you may be able to read the list.  Mr. Ryan dictated the first 2 lines.) 

The next call to Mr. Ryan was from the President of the United States of America.  And Mr. Ryan HUNG UP on the President!  When I confronted him, he said that the president was mean--he'd lost all of our money. 

Ms. Margaret received a call that there had been a stock market crash.  (The looks from that call were priceless.  They had no idea.)  But as I explained it to them, Selena got on the phone to the robbers.  She wanted to know if they were responsible for the stock market crash.  (Apparently, I'm a bad explainer...or maybe not.)  They were responsible!!  And they showed up at the bank.  As they got near the window, Mr. Ryan pushed a button which sent the robbers through a trap door--straight to the police department.

Through the course of all of this, Selena had a heart attack and became an angel (with half of her hair over one eye).  She floated between heaven and earth and brought messages from God to Mr. Ryan & Ms. Margaret.  God even allowed her to sit on his throne at times.  She wanted Margaret to become an angel and go to heaven, but alas...Ms. Margaret hadn't finished her coffee.

The End.

It was all I could do not to die laughing at times.  These two are great pretenders and have such affected voices.



Solving World Problems in 5 Minutes or Less

If only the world leaders would solve their problems the way these two do...  After getting permission to watch a movie tonight, they opened the bottom drawer of the movie chest to find a movie to agree upon and their coversation went like this:

Ryan:  Addie, do you want to watch Pinocchio?
Addie:  No.
Ryan:  Davy Crockett?
Addie:  No.
Ryan:  Flubber?
Addie:  No.
Ryan:  Lady & the Tramp?
Addie:  No.
Ryan:  Aristocats?
Addie:  Yes.

This decision took less than a minute and they are now watching their movie.
The End.

Grief

Grief comes in many ways.  Obviously, we grieve over the death of someone close to us.  We might grieve when our children move out of our house.  We could grieve over moving to a new city, a prodigal child, losing a job, an illness, a divorce, or friends defriending us.  Grief usually involves loss or drastic change...or both. 

We expect and allow grief for the obvious--death; but we don't usually think about someone grieving over the other losses or drastic changes in their lives.  I'm not sure why we don't think about it.  Or at least I know I don't.  (Maybe because mercy is not my gift.)  I might think about someone grieving over these other things, but never think about them needing time to go through the grief process.   In fact, I didn't realize I was grieving until God revealed it to me today.  It was so enlightening--and I know it came through praying with a friend this afternoon.  There have been some big changes going on around me and it's like I've been facing a new reality of my life.  I knew I was feeling burned out or spiritually dry or something and was pulling away from people, but I never once attributed it to grief.

I want to start being more aware and kinder...to myself and the people around me.  They may be grieving over things I might not have considered before.

And I'd appreciate the prayer.  I'm still there.