Pray for Kelly!

My sister-in-law Kelly is going to be induced tomorrow...I am so excited!! This is their first baby, and they are so excited to welcome their precious little girl! Please pray for strength and endurance for Kelly, and that everything would go well, and quickly! And pray for both her and Ryan as they prepare for the excitement and changes ahead!!

Little Colds...And God's wisdom

Well, I haven't been much of anywhere for a couple of weeks, mostly due to a cold and cough that has worked its way through the kids. So, I didn't post last week about Life Design, and I missed this week too. Also, I started a new Bible Study at my church on Wednesday night...I was so excited about it, but I haven't been able to go since that first meeting a couple of weeks ago. But anyway, here's some food for thought:

Ephesians 5:1-20
We were discussing walking in the light/being wise how you live.
Which interestingly enough corresponded with the first week's lesson in my other Bible study.
How can we become more wise?
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge" (Prov.1:7) and "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." (Prov. 9:10)
Which, in my own little paraphrase becomes..."Respecting God is the starting point of wisdom." The more we respect God, the more we trust him. The more we trust Him, the more we obey Him and actually put our knowledge of Him into practice.
Ecclesiastes 12:13 (my paraphrase here...)
"Respect God and obey Him--this is the whole job of mankind."

Then, this week's lesson in Life Design was about yielding, most specifically within the husband/wife relationship.
My dictionary defines yield as:
1. to give forth by a natural process
2. to surrender, to give way
3. the profit obtained from an investment (a return)
This was so absolutely interesting to me, because I noticed that the times in my relationships (marriage, friendship, or as a mommy) when I received the greatest return (definition #3) was often when I yielded the most (#2).

And oh yes, from my other Bible Study, God spoke most clearly to my heart through the words Jesus spoke to the Pharisees in Matthew 23:25-26...(my paraphrase)
You should be more concerned with what's truly in your heart, rather than how you appear in the eyes of others.

So, hey, that is so amazing...The Lord can speak to us in our hearts, gently correcting and rebuking without you ever having to leave the house. Hopefully I will leave the house soon, so I can put this all into practice. Of course, I have three (and sometimes four if Ben is home) great test subjects always at my disposal!!

Where Daddy Lives...

Today, the kids and I ventured out to meet a friend down at the Point in Ventura. It was such a perfect beach day....Blue skies, not a lot of wind, but just enough of a breeze. We walked along the water towards the playground, the kids played to their heart's content (or slightly less perhaps), and we enjoyed a snack. We thanked God for such a beautiful day and a chance to play and enjoy His beautiful creation...

Then Caleb said enthusiastically, "Oh Mommy, this is where Daddy lives!!"
Before I could explain...little Miss Emma, "No Caleb, this is where Daddy swims and surfs, in the ocean."

More from Life Design...

Life Design is the Bible Study that I attend on Wednesday mornings. I enjoyed posting when we were discussing mercy, so I thought I would try to continue posting and letting people know what we were focusing on during that particular week. Of course, that was 4 or 5 weeks ago, so I have missed a few. Anyway, this week, we were basically discussing Ephesians 4:17-32...which covers quite a bit, including the old self vs. the new self, and how we use our words. Ouch. It is a little ironic, since I spend quite a bit of time during the day saying, "Let's use kind words" or "God wants us to speak kindly to others". And yet it occurred to me during this study how carelessly I use my words sometimes. Not that I am even being mean (or at least not trying to), but using more words than necessary almost always gets us into trouble.
So, here were some of the verses that the Lord is using to remind my heart to be careful, and to think before opening my mouth:

"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." Ephesians 4:29

"The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life..." Proverbs 10:11a

"Wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning..." Proverbs 10:13a

"When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise." Proverbs 10:19

"The lips of the righteous nourish many..."Proverbs 10:21a

"The lips of the righteous know what is fitting..." Proverbs 10:32a

Of course, there are many, many more. But that ought to be enough to keep my mind meditating and my mouth quiet, for a short time, anyway...

The L.A. Zoo

Thursday, my friend Heather and I decided to take the kids to the L.A. Zoo. We were not really sure if this was the smartest idea, but hey, we were in it together. So, she and her two hopped into the "Beast" with my me and my three. Off we went...There is a lot of construction going on there, and it is a very "hilly" terrain...especially with a 19 lb. baby in a front pack, and pushing a double jogger. Emma walked at first, while I pushed the boys, but Noah was just not happy with that situation. Once we rearranged, Noah slept while we saw alligators, kangaroos, sea lions, zebras, lions, giraffes, monkeys, and of course...the elephant. I'm pretty sure we only covered about half of the zoo, but we had to call it a success because we hadn't had any major meltdowns. Then we had lunch, and the kids got their lunch in an animal lunch box--Emma had a monkey and Caleb had a cheetah. They were SO excited to show Daddy their lunch boxes and tell all about their zoo trip, but they didn't get to see him until Saturday morning. To Ben's credit, he did an amazing daddy thing, and instead of sleeping in on Saturday morning, he got up with the kids and listened to their zoo adventure.
P.S. Emma's favorite animal was the flamingo, and Caleb's favorite was the elephant. A year pass for a family is pretty reasonable and includes guest passes.