Bubby's first goose egg

My son is fearless. No obstacle is too big to climb over. No crevice is too small to crawl into. No object too wobbly to pull up on. (and yes I did just end those sentences with prepositions on purpose Dahms)

With his recent crawling successes, I think the littlest Fuerst has gotten a smidgen too big for his diaper. But today he was brought low by a ball.

He regularly chases around one rainbow colored ball. He crawls up to it, plants himself, then as he reaches for his circular nemesis with his chubby little hands, he sends the ball off again. Without a word of complaint he takes off anew in his continual hot pursuit.

Today, the ball must of been tired because Bubby actually caught it. But not only did he want to catch it, Tommy wanted to conquer it. In heartbeats, he locked his arms and pulled himself up to a standing position waving precariously above the ball. For a split second a look of triumph crossed his face, then the ball had its day as it rolled out from under him leaving Tommy with a face full of floor and a rather large goose egg.

I'm sure in the days ahead there will be many more goose eggs, scraped knees, and eventually even a broken bone or two as my son gains more control over hims limbs. If it weren't for the tears that needed dried today, I might have laughed at his circus antics.

Color's with Phoebe

Tonight while sitting in the living room Phoebe walks up to Jet and says, "Jet you are Black!" with a huge grin on her face.

Tom then says, "Color makes no difference here Phoebe."

With a smile now on my face I ask Phoebe, "What color are you?"

With an even bigger grin, "PINK!"

I then ask, "What color is Bubby?"

"Bubby's yellow." She begins to giggle.

"What color is Mommy?"

Laugh. "Green!" Laugh.

At this point I wonder what color her dad is in her 2-year-old eyes. "Phoebe what color is Daddy?"

"Daddy is white."

At the Fuerst residence there lives a fluff of cotton candy, a big cheese ball, a green alien and The Man --- plus one black lab.

Easter conversation with Phoebe

Easter morning after we finished praying over pancakes Phoebe asks, "Daddy are you God?"

Tom's response, "No sweetie, Jesus is God. And you know what He is alive!"

Phoebe grins and then says "Oh yeah!" and begins to eat.

What a sweet moment. My daughter is already beginning to think about God. Jesus thank you for daughters, pancakes, and most of all rising from the grave and defeating death!

Eating as a social event ...

As a mom, I spend a lot of time preparing food. Most days the kids and I have 3 square meals together around the table. Tom usually gets to join us for at least one.

Phoebe refuses to eat alone. She has to have somebody sitting with her. She will settle for her brother in a high chair, but she usually insists on having me right next to her. If I am still in the kitchen or trying to get a load of laundry in the dryer, she'll persistently tell me to, "Sit down Mommy! Mommy eat!"

I've been ruminating on her dislike to eat alone --- or anyone's dislike to eat alone for that matter. Since infancy, meals are a social event. As a baby nurses, he is pressed up against his mother looking her in the eyes. Or if an infant takes a bottle she is still in the arms of a trusted adult interacting and making connections. Once a baby graduates to table food, he still needs someone else to help him eat: to be near.

To eat is to commune with others. Maybe this is why important holidays include a feast of some sort. Maybe this is why we ask new friends to join us for a meal. Maybe this is why God invites us to the Table to partake of the gift of His Son.

I love that when we share eternity with the Father, Son, and Spirit it will be at a huge banquet table with good food, good friends, and good conversation. We will never have to eat alone. Phoebe will LOVE that.

Spiritual Disciplines as a busy mom ...

As a kid, I remember time creeping by. The minute hand took years to get to it's destination for recess. Christmas was a decade away in November. My birthday seemed to happen once a century.

Now I wake up, change a few diapers, fix a little food, maybe get a load of laundry done, and poof it's bed time. The hours race by me leaving me feeling dizzy and a bit disoriented. I often ask, "Where did that day go?"

So in a day that lasts a minute, when do I find time to practice the spiritual disciplines: prayer, study, solitude, etc.?

My experiment of the last couple of months looks something like this ... I've let the lines of the spiritual and the everyday blur. For example, at the breakfast table Phoebe and I read the lectionary passages intermittently with her children's Bible story book. She loves to pray for her family and friends by name. While I throw a load of laundry in the dryer I try to contemplate the scripture we read in the morning. During nap time I sit for at least ten minutes in just the quiet. When we go on walks I try to remember to celebrate God's creation. If I wrong one of my children, I confess it to them even if they don't understand.

I'm realizing God fully knows the demands of motherhood. He doesn't expect us to grow in spite of our circumstances, but uniquely through them.

Friend how do you incorporate faith in the everyday?

Things we are learning

Each week is full of new discoveries for each of the Fuerstians.

Phoebe has learned to ...
click her tongue
say thank you on a consistent basis without prompts
count to two
talk our friend Janet into almost anything :)
be a hostess (she gets capri suns out of the fridge for friends who come over)
"swim" in the bathtub
hugs from friends are a good thing not a threat

Tommy has learned to ...
sit up by himself with no support
eat cereal
roll over with the aim of getting something or going somewhere
bite fingers (he's got two teeth now)
sleep in his crib for 7 hours at a time at night
pull his socks off and suck on them
yell just for the pure pleasure of making noise

I've learned ...
to let dirty dishes sit in the sink overnight so I have time to talk to my husband
people feel more at home in my house when it is a bit chaotic like theirs
God wants to give me good things not just expects good things from me
Living in Florida in February is quite nice
freshly made Krispy Kreme doughnuts are a taste of the heavenly feast
having moments just to be myself with friends makes me appreciate being a mom and wife more

Dear friend I hope you have been learning too.

Learning to call a friend

Just for the record, the phone intimidates me. In person, I can seem to put words together in an effective way to communicate what is going on in my head. Put me on a phone and I become all consonants. Until recently I had to write myself a script to order pizza.

But there are times when face to face meetings with friends are impossible, but yet I feel lonely. I just need another adult voice in the midst of toddler talk. The phone stares at me. When I pick it up to dial a number I begin to think things like ...

- I bet my friend isn't home
- or maybe she is busy
- should I really bother her?
- what if her husband is home and they are having family time?
- or she might finally be having a peaceful moment should I interrupt that?

Many times I regretfully put the phone back on the counter thinking to myself that I'll call another time.

You know what I've realized lately: the worse that can happen is my friend can ask if we can talk later. What a revelation huh? But a freeing one.

As I have begun picking up the phone and actually dialing I've found friends who need to talk, too.

God created us to live in community. He, himself, is a community: Father, Son, and Spirit.

Go ahead and call someone.