"Choo Choo Far Away Church!"

This is what Mac says every time he hears a train whistle in the distance. Presumably, this is because the most frequent time we see trains is on our way to downtown, and our most frequent reason for going downtown is to go to church.

Like most kids his age, he can HEAR the train, and he NOTICES it. I never realized how often I tuned stuff like that out until he began pointing it out to me.

A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words

Yesterday Morning:

Yesterday Afternoon:

After that:

Later still (as in, Mac should have been in bed...but it was magical outside):

A happy day.

Potty Time!

Waiting for Mac to do something in the potty is like listening to Monica Seles play tennis. It can be quite amusing but I try not to laugh!

Also, a friend lent me 8 of her cloth diapers to try! So Arden has been wearing them some this week. (8 is about enough for one day--so she's worn them every other day this week. On the off days I wash and air dry them.) They're really pretty cool! They look something like this:

Pretty cool, eh? They're so soft and sweet! And have been working really well! The process for cleaning them is so thorough (but not labor intensive) that I'm not even freaked out about them being in my washer : )

So, given that the average child uses just over $2,000 worth of diapers in their infancy and toddlerhood, I'm pretty interested in saving a few dollars. I can think of MUCH better ways to spend the $60ish we spend per month in diapers! (That figure will go down once Mac's out of diapers and she's a little bigger and doesn't use as many...but still!)

The main thing I've learned in trying them...? I thought it would be a BIG DEAL to switch to cloth...but actually, it's not a big deal at all. I've got to change diapers all the time anyway--what's one more step in the process? Especially--ESPECIALLY--saving that kind of money. So we'll see. I'll use them a few more days, and make the final decision. But I'm leaning very strongly in that direction.

Oh--not to mention that it's so much nicer to put soft cotton on her little bottom than bleached, chemical-ridden paper!

The Disciples

I went to the hospital today to visit my dear friend and her new baby. Here's how the conversation went when I got home:

Me: Mac, I went to the hospital and I got to see baby Peter.

{Loooong pause. Mac seems to be considering this.}

Mac: See John?
Me: Do you mean Mr. Jon? (The baby's father.)

{Pause...not quite as long as the first.}

Mac: No! See Jesus?

Mac evidently thought I went see Peter...as in the apostle Peter. And because the pictures of Peter in our Bible Stories book always have John, James and Jesus with him, Mac apparently thought I went to see them too.

(We actually don't know if all the pictures are of Peter, James and John...we just use those names because Mac asks who everyone is in each picture in the Bible. So we usually say the people with Jesus are Peter, James and John. )

In other news--Mac is really picking up on this potty-training thing! I'm so proud of him! The funny part is that he insists on removing all his clothes when he sits on the potty. I don't want potty-training to become a battleground, so I let him (rephrase: I help him) strip down completely. We'll have to break that habit soon, but for now, it's pretty funny.

Also, Arden is going to be a thumb-sucker, I think. I went in to check on her while she was napping today. I was watching her sleep--so sweet--and she stirred a little and brought her thumb right up to her mouth and relaxed again (all in her sleep). So great that she can comfort herself...but it's going to a painful habit to break one day.

Changing Arden's Diaper and Grocery Shopping

I suppose Mac really wanted to be like me today?

Arden was lying under her play gym, endlessly entertained by her efforts to swat at the animals above her face. I was sitting on the couch folding laundry. Mac was running around doing Mac things. I looked down and realized he is bent over Arden, holding her legs up over her head.

Me:(aghast) Mac, what are you doing?!?!?!

Mac: (matter-of-fact) Arden need new diaper. Need wipes?

Yes, he was pretending to change her diaper. She was just looking at him.

Later, he was walking around with his cart and informed me that he needed to go grocery shopping. Next thing I know:

Please notice all the empty pantry shelves in the background.

Yeah and No

Mac--who was late in learning the word "no"--now knows it well and uses it often. Like, all the time. As in...he says no even to things he wants to do.

He also is suddenly saying "yeah" (when he's not saying "no"). Ugh--"yeah" gets on my nerves! He used to say "yes" or "uh-huh"...but "yeah"!?!? I don't know why it bothers me so much. It seems disrespectful I suppose. So each time he says "yeah" we correct him--"yes ma'am", "yes sir."

Me: Mac, do you want raisins?

Mac: Yeah!

Me: Yes ma'am.

Mac: Yes ma'am.

This is how every exchange goes.

Now I hear a sweet little Arden cry...unusual...so I need to check on the sweetums.

Prayer in Parenting...and diaper change in the drive through

Yesterday I changed the diaper of my huge 2 year old son in my lap in the drive through of a Chic-Fil-A. It was pouring rain outside. He poured water from his sippy cup all over his lap. Our car was loaded with luggage from our road trip. This was the Chic-Fil-A in Spartanburg that has no eat-in restaurant--only a drive through.

The point in listing the circumstances: there was really no other place to change him.

So I unbuckled him, told him to climb over Arden's car seat, and come get a new diaper (and new pants) in my lap.

Just so it doesn't seem that I'm completely out of my mind, I should mention that Brad was driving.

I'm not gonna lie. It was awkward.

On to more serious things--prayer in parenting. This week Brad and I were able to attend an amazing conference designed to be a time of refreshment and fellowship for reformed-types in youth ministry. During one of the corporate times of prayer, a friend prayed out loud:

"Lord, forgive me for not praying for my children and just expecting that they would turn out fine."

Reflecting on his prayer caused several threads of thought to come together for me.

One thread: Brad and I have long wondered how NOT to raise "weird" kids in ministry. We have worried because so often children of people in ministry seem to be super-rebellious or super-spiritual (in a condescending, I-can't-have-normal-conversations-because-I'm-so-above-you way). We often ask older couples in ministry--who have raised kids who love the gospel as adults--how do you do it? Why have your kids turned out so well? We have received many helpful and practical answers.

Another thread: Pastor Doug at our previous church preached a 'mini-sermon' before a baptism once that stuck with me. In discussing infant baptism, he explained that the posture of baptizing your baby is the opposite of a baby dedication. In baptism, the tone is "Lord, you have given us this child to raise. We promise to raise him in your ways." In baby dedication, the posture is more "Lord, we dedicate our child to you. We promise to raise him in your ways." The difference is subtle--but profound if you think about it.

{Hear this! : I have several friends who attend baptist churches and have dedicated their children to the Lord. These are faithful, Jesus-loving families--I am not criticizing them!! I respect and love these families. This is a point of difference, that's all.}

Yet another thread: A book I've been reading on and off again lately, The Praying Life by Paul Miller. (I read fiction voraciously, but nonfiction is spotty for me.) The book has many, many good, convicting, helpful points--but one little quote has stuck with me. Miller says, "I do my best parenting by prayer."

Still one more thread: A friend was quite honest on her blog this week about her doubts concerning prayer. This is a godly girl who loves the Lord--but, she said, she always finds herself thinking...if God is in control, isn't he going to do what he wants anyway? When I pray for something and it happens, wouldn't it have happened anyway? I applaud her honesty--I think we all struggle with these thoughts, but fear being thought immature Christians if we admit them.

So when our pastor-friend prayed this prayer regarding his children, all these threads sort of surfaced in my mind, and I found myself with an answer I've been asking for years (long before we even had children).

How do we raise children who love Jesus?

BY ASKING THE LORD.

If he holds our family in the palm of his hand, if he is sovereign over all things, if he has entrusted these lives to us, if he has set up prayer as a way to teach us his faithfulness...then prayer is the answer. If I believe my children have been given to me by him, then only he can mold and change their hearts.

In a way, these thoughts are so freeing to me. I have power to love my children, to teach them, to help them...but not control them. Their hearts are in the hands of the Lord. Their lives do not depend on how many catechism questions they know, how many hours are spent in church, or even how "good" a Christian I am (what does that even mean?). Yes--these things are influential, and yes, we hope to do them--but ultimately, primarily--we must pray for them.

All in all, this is hugely convicting and very much a challenge. This is an area that I fail daily. My prayer now echoes the prayer of our friend the other day: Lord, forgive me for not praying for my children and just expecting that they would turn out fine. Help me pray for my children continually.