Face to Face

When the scripture was read today verse 12 was the one that hit me. In the Amplified Bible version it reads: For now we are looking in a mirror that gives only a dim (blurred) reflection [of reality as in a riddle or enigma], but then [when perfection comes] we shall see in reality and face to face! Now I know in part (imperfectly), but then I shall know and understand fully and clearly, even in the same manner as I have been fully and clearly known and understood [by God].

This wasn't the focus of the sermon, but it's what I needed to hear this morning. Do you remember your best friend in elementary school? Mine was Shohrae. We grew up together climbing the willow tree in her front yard, playing at recess, & dressing her cats up in doll clothes (and we wondered why they always seemed to run away from us...) Shohrae has been fighting a type of sarcoma for a while now & last night she breathed her last breath here on earth. I am filled with grief, & saddened for her family and all of those who are close to her. Yet God sent me this reminder of His faithfulness. Verse 12. I can almost hear the whisper: Shohrae has made it!

She is with Our Heavenly Father - Face to Face.

She is whole again.

Healed.

Complete.

May God be glorified...through the tears, the mourning, & the remembrances of His precious child.

I almost missed it.

This morning I was actually running early for church! I pulled into the parking lot a full 35 minutes before I needed to be there & saw that Jack was asleep in his carseat. I wanted to give him a few more minutes of sleep, so I decided to take advantage of the moment & finish off the Starbucks giftcard John gave me for Christmas. I went through the drive thru & when I got my drink, I saw this:

At first I thought, "That's weird. Usually they try to at least make it look pretty", but a second later as I turned it around, I saw what I was meant to see: a smile. It's a small thing, but it made my morning. Plus it makes a great point for what God's been teaching me lately.

At the first of the year I decided to be more intentional about looking for/recognizing God's work in my life. Specifically the gifts He gives daily (from the simplest, to the most extravagant). His gifts are so easy to miss sometimes & I think by missing them I am really missing out on so many blessings He is pouring out on me each day. God has used this to change my focus & my attitude, & that is yet another thing I am thankful for!

On a related note, church was awesome this morning. First, I learned about an amazing ministry I didn't even know we had: The Methodist Mission Home. Then we were blessed with an awesome sermon on 1 Corinthians 13. You'll have to check it out on the church website once John gets it posted!

19 weeks

That's how old our little guy is now! Here's the latest:

• He weighs about 15 lbs. which is about the 50th percentile.
• I forget how long he is, but I think it was around the 80th percentile, & his head is still in the 5-10 percentile, so over all his 'stats' have stayed about the same.
• He LAUGHS a lot more now & it's awesome.
• He LOVES bathtime now & often gets upset when it's over.
• I think we've officially finished off the size 1 diapers & are on to size 2!
• He plays in the bumbo chair & exersaucer a lot & is very entertained with his hands and any toys he can grab. I think he prefers sitting to lying down now.
• No rolling over yet, although he makes it halfway, then rolls back. He also lifts his head up when he's on his back, or in his carseat.
• He has just developed a bump on his gums where I would assume a bottom right tooth would appear...not sure if that's what's happening, but it's a definite possibility, especially since he spends so much time chewing on his fingers (he prefers the index & middle fingers on his left hand, but sometimes has those fingers of both hands in there at once).
• We've worked hard to establish a bedtime routine & it is working well. It's pretty much just bathtime, storytime, last meal of the day, & bed. We start at about 6 or 6:30 & he's usually out between 7 & 8, so we're pretty pleased with that.
• Speaking of sleep, he's kind of established his own nap routine too, which is nice. We've realized we have to 'catch' him early enough for a nap (i.e. the first yawn, or eye rub) or he will quickly turn into Mr. Crankypants & fight sleep completely.
• Another favorite development: he talks & babbles all the time. It's adorable & I love his little voice! Although, he did decide he needed to test out that cute little voice at 3am this morning. Not sure what that was about, but he had a great conversation with himself for about an hour.

I think that's about it for now!