eric

this year eric and i will have been married for five years...time really flies. it seems like just yesterday when eric and i met at a restaurant with friends and began to talk auburn football.

it was july 9th, 2004 and i must tell you that i had (in my very narrow human mind) other plans brewing in my mind for my life when i met eric. but we met and had good conversation and by God's grace, he asked me out....and the rest is history.

there are lots of things that i love about my husband - and i am constantly amazed that God so perfectly brought him into my life as a way of showing me His love and His grace for me.

eric has strong convictions and opinions - sometimes very strong. when we were first married...and even sometimes now, i think to myself "why doesn't he go with the flow more?"....and then i am reminded of his strength and the fact that i wouldn't really want my husband to just "go with the flow". a strong man is of great worth in my eyes....if, of course, he can temper his strength with love and compassion....and for me, eric can. i am extremely sensitive and tenderhearted and that can be difficult to live with sometimes i know. it always amazes me how this man with such strength can also be so tender and love me when i most need him to.

eric is one of the most gracious people i know. in fact, i really believe that i had never understood God's grace until i met eric. it's a beautiful thing for sometime to know all of your flaws (as many as they can) and still love you...a true picture of God's love for us.

and so today i am overjoyed - overjoyed that i have such a strong, loving, gracious husband - and overjoyed mostly that i have a strong, loving, gracious God who walks with us in this journey of marriage.

p.s. - eric would be most upset if i didn't make the disclaimer that he is not perfect...and that there are days that he is difficult to live with....and b/c we live in a fallen world, this will be the case until we meet our Maker.

"moregain?"

do you find joy in the repetitive? mary does. when she finds something she loves, she wants to do it over and over again. eric and i just love how she says "moregain?" (stands for more? again?) when she wants to repeat something. this morning mary was sitting on the counter in our bathroom while i was getting ready (ps. this is one of my favorite times....watching mary in a confined area finding ways to be creative and playing with "babies" in the shapes of makeup containers, etc..) i turned the hairdryer towards mary's face and then turned it away. she got the biggest kick out of that and said "moregain"....and off we went....over and over i turned the hairdryer towards her and then away...and each time she was equally tickled.

this week at church, the guest pastor spoke on the joy of the repetitive. he said that the things we do everyday, over and over, are things that God thinks we will really enjoy....so He planned for us to do them over and over. he also said that our sins have grown us old and that keeps us from enjoying the repetitive like a child does. so i'm praying to find joy in the repetitive....even when the repetitive is doing the dishes for the second time today.

pitter patter

there's just nothing like the pitter patter of my little mary's feet as she scurries to and fro in our house - there's just nothinng like it. as most little children do, mary often proclaims "i fast" and then off she goes to prove how fast she is - and she is fast. i don't know how those little legs can move so quickly, but they do - and i love it!

tonight, as i was rocking john to sleep, i heard the pitter patter coming towards his room. mary had come to kiss john goodnight as she has started to do. she kissed him on one cheek - started to run out of the room - and returned to kiss him on the other cheek. as she kissed him the second time, he made a cooing noise that sounded to her (and to me) as if he was saying "hey" to her. delighted, she replied "hey" and then looked at me with excitement and said "john hey" as if to tell me that john had just said "hey" to her - then she ran off to tell daddy the same news. i sat there, rocking my little 6 month old baby, in total amazement - that my other baby had in 22 months progressed from a crying newborn to a little girl aware of her little brother's progression.

and that all made me think of the mind of Christ and how it just amazes me - His infinite knowledge and His infinite love. that He created us and knew us and formed us before we were known. that He knew my little mary and my little john before i knew them - and that He loves them even more than i do - is that possible? when i look at the two of them as they say "hey" to each other and i feel as though my heart could explode, His love is even greater for them! it's just something i can't fully comprehend, but something i am very thankful for. and i am thankful for that love in my own life - that God knows me....i mean he REALLY knows me....and he love me still.