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Milk and Cookies with Jaxon

One of my favorite things to do is cook, which is great because I also love to eat!  I love experimenting, and have recently taken to entering recipe contests.  My latest creations have been inspired by s'mores, which is really unusual because I don't particularly care for s'mores.  Before Jon left, I made some s'mores brownies, and last night I made some S'mores Cookies (which I am going to enter into a contest later this week.)

I fixed a fresh batch of these yummy, chocolate-marshmallow cookies and a nice glass of milk and a book or two, when my little man awoke from a nap.  So down he came to share a cookie or two (after his banana, of course!) a sippy cup of milk, and a book about farm animals.

I must say his favorite thing about the cookies was the marshmallow, because it was the first thing to go 

on his cookie as well as one of mine.

There may not have been much reading on my part, but we definitely enjoyed the cookies and milk!

One Moment in a Military Family

Today I had my first heartbreaking moment as part of a military family.  Less than a week ago Jon left for a seven month deployment.  Jax, who is now 14 months, and I have stayed busy with friends and different activities.  We have also been able to talk and Skype with Jon almost every day.  

But today I was talking with Jax when he came out of the room saying something about daddy.  I repeated what I thought he was asking, "Where's Daddy?"  Jax then walked to the stairs pointed up to Jon's music room.  I couldn't help but cry when I told him that daddy isn't up there, as I tried to change the subject.

Poor Jax didn't really know what to do.  He was in-between laughing and crying, asking to be picked up and held.  When I scooped him up, he began wiping away my tears, hugging me, and patting my back, trying to help his mommy.  

We moved on in our day, on the toys and snacks, and playing in the potty (multiple times, I might add).  

This first moment of Jax realizing his daddy isn't home, but still on the computer, has passed.  

But in the midst of all this, I realize God has blessed us with a wonderfully sweet, loving boy who is sensitive to others, even at this young age.  And I know that we will be okay.  God will continue to pour out his blessing on us, wherever we are as a family.

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What Our Kids Inherit From Us

As soon as children are born, we immediately begin trying to identify who they look like, whether the child has his or her mother's eyes or father's nose or their great uncle's ears.  My son, Jaxon, definitely looks most like his daddy, but there are definitely expressions he makes that reminds us of me, my sister, or different cousins. 

Beyond physical characteristics, there are other things our children can inherit from us.  For one thing, they can sometimes inherit our demeanor or personality.  And once again, Jaxon is most like his daddy - very calm, even-tempered and a thinker.  And every time he opens his mouth, I realize he gets his strong lungs (read: loud voice) from everyone on Jon's side of the family!  From my mother, Jax gets the inherent nature to climb anything he can, from the stairs, to the table and chairs, to the baby gate keeping him from what he wants. Like my sister, Jax is very loving and loves to feel of different objects and textures.  Unfortunately, I think he has inherited the ability to crawl and walk at a relatively early age from me.

The other things that our children can inherit from us is our character.  I keep thinking of the different qualities that I want him to have, whether it is simply born within him or whether it is something he learns through us modeling it.  There are several people in our family that have a generous, open heart, something I have so admired that I've tried to learn to be the same way.  This generosity and love is something so remarkably close to God's heart that I hope it is developed in Jax.  Honesty is another character trait that I highly value and hope to instill it in Jax (if he isn't already brutally honest like his daddy!)  A trait that I am working on myself, and therefore hope it will come easier to my children, is to never talk badly about people or the church; in a way, this goes hand in hand with loving people.  I also hope Jax becomes a hard-working, industrious person, something that many people on Jon's side of the family have demonstrated; about the only time they aren't working is when they are eating or asleep at night!

As time goes on, I'm sure there will be more things to add to the list.  These things just seem to pop out to me every time I am around people who naturally display these characteristics.  And although we should never stop growing and developing our character to become more like Christ, it is a lot easier when they just come naturally to us or we learn them as children.  So here's to those of you who are displaying good traits for our kids!

Tea Time: Take 2

Loving tea rooms as I do,

I invited my mom, maternal grandmother, and great aunt to try out a new place in honor of mother's day.  The Dove House, located in Arcadia, LA, is a small bed and breakfast thast serves lunch.  Each table has its different coordinating place settings and colors - there are no two the same - giving a wonderful relaxed setting.  The whole place is decorated in what I would call elegant country chic, and they serve wonderful, homey food.  We all got chicken salad and corn chowder, and finished it off with apple crisp topped with Blue Bell  vanilla ice cream - oh so yummy!

 

After lunch we walked through the home taking pictures and admiring everything.  We even stayed and talked with the owner, a sweet, Christian lady, for over 45 minutes.  Many of the dishes, glasses, tea things she uses are items she has collected throughout the years dreaming of one day opening a tea room.  Hearing about her dream coming true, makes me wonder if I could one day also open a tea room, possibly with my sister.  She would decorate and coordinate, and I would work on the food and business aspect of it.  If not, I'll just have to continue doing what I love - inviting friends over for brunch or afternoon tea.

Having Tea

Today I took my paternal grandmother to one of my favorite restaurants in Shreveport, LA, The Glenwood Village Tearoom.  There is something about elegant food, surroundings, and tea that makes a girl feel like a lady, almost like a princess.  It is, in fact, this restaurant that rekindled my love of tea-time (or maybe it simply sparked it, for what little girl doesn't like to dress up and have tea?)

While enjoying our time together, my grandmother remarked that having tea has become a lost art.  I think that is true to an extent.  We do forget that life is too short to not stop and enjoy a cup of hot tea and good company.  It is too short to not bring out the fine china on more than just special occasions.  And it is definitely too short not to enjoy truly decadent, lovely food!

I think what I enjoy most about these times is visiting with my friends - enjoying the good conversation, the laughter, and more than anything, building each other up in the Lord.  Since becoming a mother, I truly enjoy finding kindred spirits in other mothers who want more than just the best for their children.  They want to raise their children to love and serve the Lord.  I am going to miss these precious hours visiting with like-minded women of God that I met while in Ohio.

Sam

A few days ago, I was poking around on Facebook and saw this picture of my dog, Sam.  It made me both smile and cry, because the picture was not on my account but my best friend’s. 

A year ago, when I found out that my family would be moving around the world to Okinawa, Japan, my heart sank.  I knew there was a good chance this wonderful dog wouldn’t be able to go.  Sam is probably the best dog I have ever had.  Since we got him at age 9 months about 5 years ago, he has always been obedient, house trained, never chewed on anything or was destructive, and was always very happy-go lucky.  Unfortunately, he is also 100 lbs. of hyper-active, strong, fur-shedding Labrador, which makes having him, a Jack Russell, and a small child very difficult, esp. when everyone gets cooped up inside during the winter.

Despite all the trouble, I convinced Jon to let the dogs go with us to Japan.  The thought of having to leave them behind for three years simply broke my heart.  I rarely ask for anything or fight for anything, but I do when it comes to my family and my dogs.  For some people, dogs are just dogs; they like them, but that’s it.  For some people like me, my dogs are part of my family.

Let me explain through example.  A little over two years ago, while Jon was deployed, my Jack Russell died.  Through a series of events, I adopted another two year Jack Russell while in Texas, and brought her back to Wyoming.  This dog, Heidi Belle, had been in a high-kill shelter when she was rescued by a pet adoption agency, so I’m not sure what her background was.  All I know is that she is very loving --- and also would run away at any chance she got.  Anytime the door was cracked, she was gone.  For a long time she couldn’t even be inside without being on a leash.  Heidi did this for two years.

For all the trouble, I couldn’t give her away, even when others told me they would have given up.  If I didn’t have the persistence to teach her she belongs to our family, who could?  Since my son was born 10 months ago, Heidi has finally realized that we are her family, even if we are traveling.  She still has to be on a leash when outside, but she no longer tries to “escape” or run away.

It was this same love and persistence that made me want to take Sam with us to Japan.  Heidi is small and not much trouble (anymore!), but they are both part of my family.  I know there were people who would love to have Sam, but there was no one that I liked or could really trust to take care of him like I would.  And even though, deep within, I knew it was in no one’s best interest for him to go to Japan, I wasn’t budging.  And I certainly wasn’t going to ask God about it.  What would He care about my dog anyway?

About two months before we were set to leave, Jon approached me again about leaving Sam with someone for three years.  I couldn’t imagine leaving him, especially since I couldn’t think of anyone to keep him.  Then Jon mentioned my best friend Brandi, who I’ve known since we were three.  She had just gotten married, and to a duck hunter no less!  All the sudden, she sends me a text out of the blue, “How are you doing?”  Well that finally chipped away at my reserves.  If they would keep Sam, I knew God had a hand in it.

Sam has been with them for a few weeks now.  Not being in my own home, I haven’t realized the full extent of his missing presence following me around the house.  But they love him and are able to take better care of him than I am right now.  And he is having a blast running around, playing fetch, and getting ready for duck season.  

I wrote all this to point out how much I forget that God truly cares about the smallest things in our lives.  This issue that was so large in my everyday life, I had deemed insignificant in His eyes.  And even though I wouldn’t even bring the matter before Him, He saw my fears and concerns and my needs, and took care of it all in such a way that I have perfect peace about it.  Now that makes me smile and cry. 

Moving

Just a few weeks ago, we packed up the last of our items, loaded them on a moving truck, and headed across the country on another move.  This will be the third major move (meaning to another state more than ten hours away) I have made since I got married almost seven years ago.  I had quite of lot of time as I was driving to become quite philosophical about moving.

Moving is never that hard on me, except for the last service in my home church and when we actually pull away from the place where we have made our home, in which case the tears usually come pretty easily.  Looking back on the different moves, I can now identify the emotions that were flooding through me each time we pulled away from our home.

When Jon and I moved to Wyoming from Lousisana, we actually had to move twice; once out of our little apartment and once six weeks later out of my mom's house.  When we drove away from the apartment, I think I cried the most I have ever cried over a move.  Although it was very small, old apartment, it was our very first "home."  It was there that I learned that home is where you and your family are.  When I married Jon two years earlier, one of my friends remarked that she knew I would be fine with married life, but she didn't know how I would handle being away from my parents home and farm that I loved so much.  And I must admit the I was homesick for the farm for months.  But when I finally told someone I was going home, and meant my apartment that I shared with Jon, I knew that I had learned what home really is.  So as Jon and I left that apartment for the last time, I cried in the sadness of leaving our first home, knowing we would never go back in, and believing it would never be as nice as we had fixed it up to be.

Six weeks later, when we left my mom's farm to venture off to Wyoming, I cried because of the fear of the unknown.  We were leaving all of our family and friends and everything familiar to try out the wide open spaces of Wyoming.  We were leaving safety and security to try all sorts of new things, including a new school for me, a new job for Jon, buying our first house and land, driving through snow, buying and selling a rental property, and so many others. 

We made so many mistakes there, mostly because of not truly listening (and maybe not truly asking) to God's direction.  So when we finally sold our house and drove away from Wyoming on our second move across the country with a clean slate - no debt but neither any gain - it was with a wave of relief.  There were few tears, mostly shed for the few friends we made, but we were wiser and determined not to make the same mistakes in Ohio.

I'm still not sure what emotions I felt about moving from Ohio to Japan this third time.  Indeed, I am still overcome with emotion and tears because I am still in limbo between the two places visiting family here in Louisiana, while Jon is already in Japan preparing for the arrival of our 10 month old son and myself.  I know there is sadness in leaving the many, many close friends and church family we made while there.  There are no regrets, though; and I know that we grew more in our walk with God, finances, social avenues, and marriage in the past 20 months than we have in the past five years and longer.  

And beneath the sadness and swarm of emotions there is some excitement bubbling up.  One because we are moving to a tropical island - yay! - but also I know God has something awesome for us there.  There is a reason He allowed us to grow so much; there is work to be done and a race to run for Him.  We are fullfilling our calling and there is nothing more exciting or truly fullfilling than being in the will of the Master.

And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. 
 -Galations 6:9