Summer Rain

"Are there any among the false gods of the nations that can bring rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Are you not he, O Lord our God? We set out hope on you, for you do all these things."                                             Jeremiah 14: 22

There is something so sweet about rain without storms.  I love a good thunderstorm and I love that they illustrate how awesome and mighty God is.  But, to me, rain -- just rain, is a picture of God's grace.  It is refreshing, cleansing, life-sustaining, and yet he doesn't have to send it.  He doesn't owe it to us, and we haven't and can't do anything to deserve it.  It's a gift of unmerited favor. Just like Christ "who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death -- even death on a cross!"

I think my kids would agree:

Bet you thought you'd never see this!

Steve on a zipline!  Thanks to the Hansens for an awesome Grace Community Church staff party and a hilarious time watching my husband and our staff brothers and sisters in Christ zip across the ravine behind their house!

And still more summer! Haley and Elias's Dedication

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."                 Jeremiah 1:5

The ceremony approached perfection.  Pastor J (Haley's grandpa) so engagingly elaborated on the first chapter of Jeremiah, which God had laid on my heart as the perfect passage for the occasion.  He and his wife Vicki worked like crazy to make it all so beautiful.  (I only wish I had written this sooner so my memories were fresh.)  My sister and her good friend Kelly performed the most lovely song.  My mom, Vicki, Yiayia, my sister, and probably a bunch of other people put together a super-tasty mexican meal for a crowd complete with Tres Leche cake -- one of our favorites!  I say approached perfection because there were a few pretty funny mishaps:

1. The fact that Haley's parents are Elias's Godparents and we are Haley's Godparents could have contributed to the ceremony and made it even more precious.  Somehow, we ALL failed to mention that to Pastor J.
2. A little camera mixup means that we have no decent photos of the ceremony itself, beautiful as it was.
3. To add insult to injury on the photo front, we failed to get a single picture of Haley and Elias together.  I think we have taken a photo of them every single time they're been together, except when they were dedicated together. 

We did still get some adorable photos of the kiddos!

One of my all-time favorite photos of Zeke -- he's just all boy and all trouble!

Elias and Aunt Betty

Uncle Jon is always so much fun!  Here he actually managed to carry Grace, Greta, and Zeke all at once.  He begged me not to try and take a picture because he couldn't manage it another second.

During cleanup, Zeke let his balloon bouquet hit the vaulted ceiling a half dozen times.  He is so blessed to have many tall men who love him and were willing to go to great lengths to retrieve it. (Special thanks to Uncle Chris, Daddy, and Papa J for loaning them his crutch!)

Grace looking beautiful!

More from summer's end . . .

The First Day of School



Nonni was visiting and we convinced her to stay long enough to see the girls off on their fist day of K and Pre-K. The girls were blessed by her presence because mom would not have had the ambition to make scrambled eggs for breakfast!



Headed off to school!



Zeke made himself at home.



Zeke at home in Greta's class too!  He REALLY wanted to stay with his girls!

Sick kiddos = time to blog!

Fall is enchanting! Crisp air, sweaters, apple orchard outings, anticipating the holidays, and cheering on the Boilers are a few of the wonderful signs that summer is gone and the midwest's best is here. That's how I felt until this week when the terrible cold and wind struck (I've always described this place as "wind capitol of America") along with illness at our house. We now have 2 cases (so far) of hand, foot, and mouth disease and fall no longer seems so idyllic. The new face of fall whines a lot, sleeps a lot (but not at night) and is covered in red, painful blisters. The upside is that 3 of my 4 kiddos are asleep and that along with urging from my good friend Mary has prompted me to plop myself in front of the computer and blog for the first time in months!

Looking back over the end of summer and beginning of fall:

In early August we finally stole away an afternoon to pick our own blueberries. I remember fondly the first U-pick experience for my kiddos (unless you count apples and pumpkins, which I don't really) and maybe even my husband, despite it being cut short by a horde of mosquitos and 1 grouch.

Steve was very task-oriented

(it's a good thing, b/c we all know you can't expect the

little ones to do anything but eat as many blueberries

as they can manage!) and Elias just hung out, happy as usual!

Can you find us?

You wouldn't know it from this photo, but this was our grouch.

Speaking of mosquitos . . .

I never realized how much my eldest son resembles me until I saw this of the 2 of us!

Zeke being Zeke

The final product: