FLASHBACK

Here's Carter and Owen hanging out about 4 1/2 years ago. I'm glad they still like to play together!

I don't envy Mary...

Excerpt from Max Lucado's God Came Near

God. O infant-God. Heaven's fairest child. Conceived by the union of divine grace with our disgrace. Sleep Well...

Rest well, tiny hands. For though you belong to a king, you will touch no satin, own no gold. You will grasp no pen, guide no brush. No, your tiny hands are reserved for works more precious:
to touch a leper's open wound,
to wipe a widow's weary tear,
to claw the ground of Gethsemane.

Your hands, so tiny, so tender, so white-clutched tonight in an infant's fist. They aren't destined to hold a scepter nor wave from a palace balcony. They are reserved instead for a Roman spike that will staple them to a Roman cross.

Sleep deeply, tiny eyes. Sleep while you can. For soon the blurriness will clear and you will see the mess we have made of your world...

Rosebud lips - upon which ride a starborn kiss of forgiveness to those who believe you, and of death to those who deny you - lay still.

And tiny feet cupped in the palm of my hand, rest. For many difficult steps lie ahead for you...

I read this the other night and it really struck me, likely because every description of an infant is very real to me right now. I couldn't keep from wondering what it would be like to be holding a new baby, knowing that I was going to have to see him be ridiculed and torchured and killed. That is a weight that seems almost impossible to bear.

Strike a Pose

Is this a good enough smile?

Get me outta here!

ENOUGH ALREADY!!!

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (also the first)

This video is for the grandmas and the grandpas. I don't expect that a lot of people are interested in seeing Carter sing Jingle Bells with a bunch of unknown children, but he did a great job. (Thankfully, he has not yet gotten the flu-bug Owen had.) The gym was hot and packed, but the program was 1/2 hour from start to finish, so it was okay.

The Mind of a Child

Here's a bit of a conversation I overheard yesterday.

Carter: "There were dinosaurs when Jesus was born."
Owen: "Yeah, there were pirates too.
Carter: "Uh-huh." Pause... "Mom, are pirates for real?"

I'm Leaving On a Jet Plane....

Okay, so it's more of a spaceship than a jet plane, but the boys have had hours of fun with it. Owen, Lewis and I visited Birthright the other day, and they had just received a bunch of toys from a second-hand store. The boys were the proud recipients of this plastic spaceship. Even Lewis hung out in the spaceship fort.

Who is That Masked Baby?

What to do on a cold icy day? Make masks of course! Lewis is modeling a black foam mask complete with sequins.

We haven't been able to see out of our east windows all day because they have been coated with a very pretty layer of ice. It was a good day to be stuck inside though. Owen was up a good chunk of the night throwing up. I slept in Carter's bed and Carter slept with Corey. I guess I didn't get much sleep, but Carter slept much better than he would have in his own room. Owen has been sleeping much of the day, and Carter was happy to lay in front of the space heater and watch cartoons all morning. I'm praying that the rest of us don't get sick, but it usually seems to go that way. Who will be puking next? Stay tuned to find out!!