Here's J-Dog kickin' it around the house... what a blessing this boy has been!

We are so thankful for sisters in our house.

There is something so special about fathers and daughters. The way Josh interacts with our girls is so different than what they receive from hanging around with me. I have imposed some type of rule that I will teach our children to have excellent manners and therfore always exhibit them myself. We sip tea each afternoon in lieu of snack time and I lecture about sitting up straight and pleasant table conversation. Last night I began to wonder if it was all for nothing. Josh is so fun, so spontaneous and thank goodness that he is nothing like me because then our kids would probably go insane. We were enjoying the fun of a Papa Murphy's pizza around the dinner table when everyone began to belch on their Pepsi and giggle, followed by fart noise after fake fart noise. The kids and Josh were in stitches and for moment I wrinkled my forehead and gave Josh a deathglare. I caught a glimpse of the ugliness of my bad attitude and then I decided to pull a 180 and follow Josh's lead. I wanted to have some fun too and I let out the BIGGEST fart noise of the whole night to the delight of my children and husband. By following the lead of their daddy our girls will know how to have fun, and live in a home full of laughter! They will also see that their mama loves their daddy and that fart noises and all, we are a team. Seeing the way Josh wrestles, listens, plays dress up and just plain loves on our girls is priceless. I received a letter from my own dad this year on my birthday that was so beautiful and so intimate... he knows me and loves me and embraced what it meant to be the picture of God in my life at a young age. I realized that even as a married woman, a parent myself now, I long for the words I receive from my dad. They build me up, they encourage me and breathe life into my identity. The words and affection and interactions dads shower on their daughters are forming their very persons, their futures and will ultimately benefit generations. I am so thankful that Josh doesn't get tempted to hide behind pretense like me. I am so thankful that he is silly and fun and real with our girls. I am so thankful that he is present and not hidden from them. He amazes me with his love for our children. And about the whole manners thing... well, at least we still have tea time.

The Housewife 2000
Okay, so its the New Year....2007 and this picture was supposed to be the 2000 model. Where is my waterproof furniture and and sqeaky clean hose thingy? We do have a leather sofa, but I just don't think this method will fly around here. The promise of something new and clean is very appealing to me. I am constantly trying to find a "system" that I can put into action that will forever keep my home sparkling and new inventions that will help keep my kids' hair shiny and their teeth bright. (Anybody ever tried baby oil on a tangle, works like a charm!) I long for my carpet and hardwoods to be free of the moth ball, lint, pine needle junk that seems to collect every day. This weekend we were in an uproar around here... furniture was being rearranged, closets being emptied, garbage flying out the back door by the bag. It was a lot of work, but the process was one of rejuvenation. We were making way for the new, creating a fresh start. As this new year brings a bit of breezy fresh air and the hope of all things new, we are reminded of God's promise to us, the one that says HE has brought us the ultimate new, fresh, squeaky clean feeling I am seeking each January 1st.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! - 2 Corinthians 5:17
I am so thankful for this reminder. I don't have to work as hard as I think I do to polish up my heart or home or to measure up. I am taken in the arms of Christ, found in him... and new. When this word of God seeps in to my being I can relax a bit and live with floor lint and the clutter, remembering that what I am offer today through Christ is enough. I am enough for him. I still feel a little jipped about the lacking technology of the promised housewife 2000, but I am thankful for the reminder of who I am today as I scrub away around here. I am thankful that God is the one doing a great work in my heart and that when I give myself wholly to him, I can truly rest.... and have lots more time to clean :)