5

Each year you impress me with your growth, both physically and mentally.  You are so intelligent, funny, and even {when no one else is looking} sweet.  You are growing and changing so rapidly I can hardly believe it has already been 5 years.  You are learning to read with amazing speed, your memory for dinosaur names is unfathomable, and you are beginning to grow in the knowledge of the Lord.

My prayer for you this year is that You therefore, put aside all malice and deceit, like a newborn baby, you will long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, and that you will begin to know and taste the kindness of the Lord. {prayer adapted from 2 Peter 2:1-3}

Getting measured - Just tall enough to ride the BIG roller coasters!

At least Each month you become another flying creature.  You have been a dragon, an eagle, a bat, a bluejay, a vulture, a falcon, a quetzalcoatlus, a barn swallow and even a flying squirrel.  You are able to completely lose yourself and live contentedly in the amazing world you have created.  Your imagination is complex and astounding.  Your energy for imagination is so inexhaustible that it's hard not to get caught up in your world with you.  Whenever I read the end of Isaiah 40, I smile and think of you.

Yet those who wait for the LORD 
Will gain new strength; 
They will mount up with wings like eagles, 
They will run and not get tired, 
They will walk and not become weary.

wings in flight.

Each week you cause me to think.  You are not a man of many words, but a man of action.  And some of those actions are absolutely perplexing.  You force me to be creative and persistent as I teach you, talk to you, and discipline you, because all the usual methods are completely lost on you.  And one day {I hope} as your words catch up with your thoughts you can let me know what you thinking about.  Because I know it will be fascinating!

A plan in the heart of a man is like deep water, But a man of understanding draws it out. - Prov.  20:5.

Each Day you bring me to my knees.  Let's be honest, you are not an easy child, but you are an amazing child!  I remember saying before any of you kids were born, that I would rather have a strong-willed child than a passive one.  Because a strong willed child doesn't do anything he doesn't want to do, and good or bad you always know exactly where they stand. {be careful what you wish for} And because of this I must be on my knees daily asking that the Lord will soften you, the Lord will shape you, the Lord will convict you, and the Lord will use your weaknesses for His glory.  I am so thankful that you challenge me to my knees.  Because if you did not, I'm not sure I would be there.  You are such an wonderful blessing to me.  I adore you Micaiah David, and I am so privileged to call you my son!

matters of the heart

About a year and a half ago I became increasingly weary of seeing half-naked ladies lying around my little girl's room.  These weren't just any naked ladies, these were my daughter's prized possessions {though I didn't know it at the time}.  I have never been a fan of Barbies, with their ridiculously disproportionate bodies and their propensity towards flagrant immodesty, but each one had been given to her as a gift from someone who loves her very much.  We decided at the time to let her keep them, but were growing very tired of seeing their unclad bodies strewn about.  {Let's be honest, even when Barbies do have clothes on, they leave little to the imagination.}  Barbie just wasn't a role model I wanted for my girls, so in a moment of unthinking and unplanned rashness I scooped all of them up, threw them in a box, and told my sweet girl that it was time for her to have a break and we would find something a little more tasteful for her to play with.

Problem solved. {Not hardly! This is why parenting on the fly is not always a good idea for me.}

What I had done in that single moment was break my daughter's heart, and help her to open up her heart to a little plastic idol that has resided there ever since.  She became obsessed.  OBSESSED.  Anytime we were in a store, she would beg to go down "that" aisle, she would draw pictures of Barbies, make Barbies out of paper, request to play Barbie on the computer, play Barbies at her friends house, beg to watch Barbie movies at other's houses'.  Barbie, Barbie, Barbie!!!  

I naively thought that if I removed the object, then the need for said object would gradually fade.  Why...?   I'm have no idea.  It's never worked for me.  Have you ever tried to give up sugar for an extended period of time?  Did you just stop thinking about it after a couple of days.  I sure didn't.  {but maybe that's a personal problem.}

So yesterday when my daughter had begged for the forth or fifth time to just look at her Barbies in the box, I knew I needed to rethink the way I had been handling things.  We didn't get them back out, but sat down to have a light hearted chat about the sin of idolatry and how it can so easily capture our hearts.  Though her eyes immediately glazed over, I'm pretty sure she was listening.  After talking for a couple of minutes I realized I needed a different strategy.  This girl hates to be talked at.  So I asked her to draw a picture of her heart and exactly how the love was divided up inside her.  She was more than happy to comply.  {She loves to draw about as much as she hates to listen}

The picture of her "heart" hanging on her bulletin board - to "always remind her."

Once she saw her finished product I could tell she was a little shocked, she said "I think I need to pray about this right now".  Her simple prayer went something like this "Dear Jesus, please help me never to love my things more that I loved You.  If things do become more important to me than You, would you please take them away."  Needless to say, her simple prayer convicted me.  I too am guilty of things, people, hopes, or dreams becoming more important to me than Christ.  After the prayer she looked up at me with her big blue eyes glowing, "Mom!  My heart actually feels lighter, I had a 'burden' just like the 'Pilgrim'".  

- Oh Thank you Lord for doing what I cannot {but for some reason still try to do} in the hearts of my children.  Thank you for giving us Your Holy Spirit to convict us and please help me to remember that I am NOT Him, in my life, or the lives of my children!

We decided together after talking and praying {and me apologizing for my snap decision} that the Barbies would come back out, but if she felt that they were starting to consume her heart she would ask me to hide them for a while until she could regain focus.  And the beauty of this, is that I know that she will.  It so amazing as a parent to see the Lord convict your children and know because He has worked in them there will be a real transformation!  

So the Barbies {though still not my favorite} have rejoined our lives with new, more modest wardrobes {patterns from craftiness is not optional} and a simple request that they keep their clothes on in all situations that Anya* would as well.  

Now...why didn't I think to do this a year and a half ago?  

*All stories about my kids, that can read this blog, have been used with their permission.  My goal is not to embarrass them, but to share where they are at as they grow and change on this journey we call life.  We all make mistakes and are just as happy to share our victories as we are our shortcomings.

we interrupt this program...

I am not a 'deals' blogger, or an extreme buyer, or an anything blogger as of late, but sometimes a good deal is too good to pass up.  Enter Vitacost.  It's a natural foods and products website that is offering a deal right now that you get $10 off of your first purchase, and if you use this *link* I will also get $10 for referring you.  For your $10 you can get things like...

Three bottles of Seventh Generation Dish Soap for the $4.99 shipping.  This is what I'm getting.  It's something we use already and at $1.67 {the cost of shipping divided by 3} a bottle it's a great deal.  Vitacost also carries..

And grocery items such as raw honey, coconut oil, Annie's Organics, and Bob's Red Mill.

So there you have it.  My first and probably last shameless commercial for Vitacost.  Hopefully my check is already in the mail.