Micah funnies and more

At night we let the girls have a turn with praying. For at least about a month now Micah's prayer has gone something like this:

"People eat people eat people eat. Red blue people eat people. Amens"

Which (I'm hoping) is loosely translated to:

Dearest Heavenly Father,

Please let all the people of the world, no matter their color or creed, have enough food to eat.

In Your Son's precious name, Amen.

Either that she's into cannibalism. Let's hope for the translation.

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Lately, Mia has been making up her own praise songs. Which is possibly one of the cutest and sweetest things in the history of cute and sweet things. Here's her song from today:

"Lord, you are everything,
and you are so good,
and you are so healthy
that you can get us up
and bring us to Heaven.
Lord, you are so good."

Right after I wrote that down, this funny exchange happened:

Mia: Hey Micah! Did you know you can pray to God and ask him to come into your heart and wash away your sins?
Micah: YEAAAAH.
Mia: Would you like to do that now?
Micah: YEAAAAH!
Mia: Okay, let's pray.
**both girls fold their hands and close their eyes**
Mia: Okay, say what I say. Dear God, please come into my heart...
Micah: Dear God... a heart
Mia: And wash away my sins. Amen
Micah: AMENS! (Pats her tummy) God in my heart!
Mia: No silly! Your heart is here in your chest.
Micah: Yeah. That's my belly button!

(I'm thinking she didn't quite understand the gravity of the situation.)

Mia Funnies

So, a bit of a back story to this Mia Funny:

Back when Mia was potty training we started calling her underwear "Big Girls". For several reasons really: 1.) Neither of us liked the term "panties" and 2.) It made her even more excited about being a big girl (and, thus, play along with going in the potty).

Anyway, the term stuck.

SO! The other day, we are sitting around the table at breakfast and Mia is thinking really, really hard about something. Finally, she says...

"So, Mommy, if Micah and I are big girls.... [dramatic pause] Does that mean people WEAR US?!"

She immediately busts out laughing. She's a silly girl. I think we'll keep her.

Go West, Young Man

Closing day at the old house (I just realized Mia isn't too happy)

I think it all started about a year ago. There was this vague feeling of uncomfortableness. We couldn't quite place our finger on it, but both Mark and I couldn't get comfortable where we were. We talked so many nights until midnight or later trying to figure it out ourselves -- and praying over it -- but we would come away often more confused than we started. It was a general feeling of unease that followed us around and crept into our day to day lives. It was distracting. It was tiring. We thought at first it was related to our own crappy attitudes, but even after a concerted effort to change that... it remained.


Then God began slowly moving our friends away. One family at a time were called to other places to do other things. I felt called to leave the dance studio which was gut wrenching. We began to feel like an island. So in addition to this uneasy, uncomfortable, discontented feeling, we began to add the feeling of loneliness.

It was during this time that we also lost Pumpernickel.


There was really no doubt that God was calling us to grow closer to Him.

Sometime around summer of last year, we began to feel called somewhere else. Where that "else" was, we weren't quite sure. But we were certain it was something God wanted. We believed it was Pearland, TX -- a city about 30 minutes from where we lived and 30 minutes from where Mark worked in Houston. It made so much logical sense -- Mark's hour-long drive would be cut in half. There would be greater opportunities for me and the girls if we chose to dive into homeschooling (that's a whole other post!) and everything was just so close and convenient without moving too far from family. Brilliant! Sign us up! Let's sell this house!

But, no. It wasn't right. It felt awkward. Like we were trying to force ourselves into a round hole when we were clearly square pegs. We took a break from pursuing Pearland and began praying. And that's when a seed began being planted in my mind...


That seed grew sometime in the fall. We came to visit friends in Austin and take in a Longhorn football game (Hook Em!). And for the first time in a very long time I breathed a sigh. It felt comfortable. And right. But, made absolutely NO sense, whatsoever. The feeling continued to grow when we visited The Austin Stone to see a friend play in the worship band. Strangely... he wasn't playing that day. But at some point during the worship my heart did a flip-flop.

We were being called here. I was sure.

We began podcasting. And praying. And praying some more. Nothing made sense to be moving here. There weren't jobs in Mark's line of work. It was more expensive -- too expensive. Our family wasn't there. By this time I was also pregnant. But it remained a thought and desire in my mind and began to grow in Mark's as well.

At the end of 2010 a friend of ours posted a list of questions to consider as the new year was starting. Questions about being obedient. About who we were earnestly praying to accept the Gospel message. About truly being stretched and grown. And about praying for God to do something "impossible."

We started praying through these. And decided to take a praying trip to Austin to see where God was directing us.

The rest, as they say, is history. While we were in Austin, Matt Carter, the main preacher at The Stone, was talking about Heaven and Hell. He mentioned that we have a choice to make -- are we going to live full-out for Christ, being radically obedient... or feel content to sit around and play church. Truly, we have no idea how many more days we have left on this earth... why not make in impression for the Gospel today?


It hit us. Realistically, if we live to be 70, we have 40ish years left. As fast as these 30 have gone... I imagine the next 40 will be just as fast. Or faster. What were we doing wasting our time when we knew what God wanted?


So. That was the where. But the how? That was the problem.


But Mark's amazing company said he could work from home in Austin. And continue in the same job. With the same amount of money... including just enough of a bump that made living in Austin possible. God paved the way.


And so we got our house ready to sell. And did it ever sell. Now, we lived in a market that was slow. 6-12 months was about average for a house to be on the market. We put ours up on Monday, February 21. We had our first showing Wednesday, February 23. An offer on Thursday, February 24. And all negotiations were done on Monday, February 28.

You read that right. Our house sold in a week. Our God is the God of impossible.


God was gracious and gave us a long period before out closing date (especially because sweet Micah was having surgery to have her tonsils removed!). And so, April 16th was our moving date. We were headed west.


We had a pretty specific list of things we needed in a house here in Austin and a smaller budget for their very busy rental market. And God provided it amazingly. The house we ended up renting was one that had been on our list from the beginning, but included absolutely no pictures. Until the day we were on our way to find a house. And it was exactly what we needed. And even includes several things we wanted. God is good.


So we're here. We love our house. We're getting plugged in with old friends and meeting new ones. We're starting to see where God is leading us in the mission of reaching Austin -- one of the most unreached cities in America. And it's exciting. Scary, yes. Daunting at times. But that uneasy feeling that had plagued us...

Has been replaced by a peace. We can't wait to see what He'll do next.

News... well, sort of

So, so much has happened since I last wrote. Ridiculous amounts... but I guess that's pretty much what happens when it's been, oh, almost 6 months? Yeah. Sorry about that.

First, foremost, and most excitedly -- We are adding a third child to the family. Yes, most people who would even read this blog would already know this. And I'm insanely late in reporting this news as he is already 3/4 of the way cooked. We're due in early August and are thrilled and so are the girls. Poor third child. I'm sorry, baby.

Oh, you caught that? Yes, HE. We decided to find out this time and the girl we were both totally expecting to have turned out to be a boy. A boy! We are calling him Manna right now, to continue our theme of bread names in utero. He has a name. It shall be revealed at birth.

(I'm actually still in a wee bit of denial that it is actually a boy. I saw the ultrasound, but am afraid it was wrong! Hopefully not, as there is a lot of blue around here right now...)

So far, little man has been very healthy. And head-down. Praying this stays the same.

Mia totally called it from the moment we found out we were pregnant -- she knew the baby was her brother. She did the same with Micah. It's a wee bit freaky, actually. Micah is thoroughly freaked out by the baby moving in my tummy, but likes the idea of the baby.

Secondly, we moved. Across the state. To Austin. There is a long story surrounding this that will be typed out momentarily and hopefully published tomorrow. I want to make sure I get it right. But let's just say that God has been totally rocking our world and blessing us in ways we couldn't have imagined. And stretching us in ways we couldn't have imagined. And... well, just basically calling us to be radically obedient. Good stuff. Good stuff all around.

Thirdly, I still haven't thought of a better blog name. I'm awful guys. I threw a bunch around with Mark and got nuthin'. Please help. I like to think I'm creative, but honestly... I'm just not.

Creativity Escapes Me

I need help, people. Much help...

We are wanting to change the name of our blog. We want to take our last name out of the title.

One problem, though:

I have no creativity left. None.

Do you have any suggestions? Help?

Bueller?

A Holy Day

So a couple weeks ago, I had one of those days that just make you want to go back to bed and start over.

I was running late to meet a friend. Then I forgot some items that I needed to return, and since we live so far from the store, and I happened to be going to said town... I really needed to turn around. I got pulled over (got a warning, whew). Drinks were spilled. Snacks forgotten. Fits thrown (by the children and me). And then I got caught by the longest, slowest train ever. No seriously, I timed it -- nearly 10 minutes of waiting. My phone started working funny. My kids threw fits in the store. And the Lowes lady was rude to me. And we were late for naptime.

All this by 2pm.

I was starting to wonder if there was a hidden camera somewhere.

But then, from the backseat my sweet Mia started singing a song she made up: "Holy, holy, holy is this day! Holy, holy, holy is this day!"

At first, I have to admit I was terribly annoyed by the incessant repeating of this phrase. Until it started to sink into my consciousness. Yes... this day is holy. This day was made and set apart by God. He planned everything that happened. He knew the drinks that were going to spill and the rude ladies before the day even started.

And you know... really, in the end, all these issues were there to teach me one thing:

No matter what happens: "This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24

Rejoice over spilled drinks and lateness? Yep. Rejoice over stops from a police officer and long trains? Of course! Rejoice over fits and rudeness? You got it.

Why? Well, for one... Because I am fortunate enough to have a drink. And a friend to meet. And police officers that protect me (sometimes from myself. And trains moving means someone has a job. And fits means I've been blessed with incredible children with amazing willpower. And rudeness means that I was blessed enough to shop at the store in the first place.

But most of all, because God was right there with me through it all. A heartbeat and breath away. And He loves me enough to let me stumble around for awhile so I will realize He's right there.