like little children

This week's sermon used a great quote to expound on the Scripture where Jesus tells his disciples to become more childlike to partake of the Kingdom of God.  This is an excellent example of how walking in God's "mission" for me as a parent has made my overall Christian walk so much richer.  Without being fully immersed in Elias' abounding vitality and fiercely free spirit, I wouldn't be able to grasp Chesterton's point with nearly as much depth:  the difference in "knowing" and "living" something.

...and perhaps now I won't be so easily annoyed at his delight in "do it again, Mommy!"

"Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, "Do it again"; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, "Do it again" to the sun; and every evening, "Do it again" to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we."      --G.K. Chesterton  

June rehash

Ack!  Somewhere I seem to have miss-placed June! 

It's been busy at work (even more than usual) and home (as usual, pretty much maxed out).  Elias, my little boy now (can't even fool myself that he's still a "toddler") has been delightful, with many blog-worthy moments when I think I'd better write this down or I'll forget.  Of course, I've forgotten them.  Some people strive to live in the moment; between my very poor memory and general overwhelming daily activities, that's just how I end up.

Ah, but that's where pictures come in!  I'm still loving my DSLR, and of course I'd like to have more opportunities to take and process more.  I finally downloaded a bunch today, which captures some of the things we've been up to.

My parents visited in June, on the 3yr anniversary when they met us coming back from Ethiopia.  I forced them to have professional pictures taken, which no one liked doing, but I'm glad to have the pictures anyway.

We drove around a lot and ended up at Lake Kegonsa one afternoon.  Elias discovered he could make us all laugh by bending down and wetting his face in the lake, then going over and putting it in the sand like a big face stamp.

Another June activity that's becoming an annual outing is the "Breakfast on the Farm."  We got there late (~9am) and the lines were horrendous!  At that point Elias was starving and'd been promised pancakes and sausage, so we were stuck.  We were also underdressed for just standing in the windy drizzle.  I must say, for a kid who struggles to sit quietly for even 30 seconds of "circle time" (ie-lecture) at daycare, Elias' behavior was indeed heroic.  Afterwards he did have a good time, too.

 We hosted a BBQ for our church adoption group.  It's a wonderful and growing community.  It's great to fellowship, pray for one another, and hear all the wonderful stories.  The slip-N-slide was a big hit.

With summer slipping away so quickly, and Elias no longer a baby, I really need to try to take advantage of all the fun opportunities around Madison.  We haven't even made it down to the Square yet for farmers market (although we often go to another one.)  A "little" thing we've been doing is having picnics out in the back yard, which is a great "time out" and way to enjoy our wonderful yard.  We should host more BBQ's, definitely.  The county fair.  Camping.  Fishing, even.  I have to be more intentional in planning these things to indeed experience those great in-the-moment times.