Babies Don't Keep

I ran across this poem on the another blog and thought it was worth sharing:

Song for a Fifth Child

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing, make up the bed,
Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,
Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo
Look! Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue?
Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
But children grow up as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

~Ruth Hulburt Hamilton.

So true. It's hard to remember when my babies looked like this:


and this:



But they'll always be my babies!

Happy 7th Anniversary!

Today is our 7th anniversary, and I could not be happier with the man God blessed me with.
He is, among many things:
...patient with me. And believe me, I need a patient man!
...loving to me and our kids. I love watching him take care of them!
...an awesome friend. I've had bouts of loneliness since we've moved to Houston, and he always listens to me when I need him!
...a great pastor! If I had to pick anyone to listen to preach every Sunday for the rest of my life, it would be him.

He wrote a song for our wedding called "Hand in Hand." The chorus says:
"Hand in hand, together, in triumph or in pain;
Hand in hand together, 'cause this is our God's plan;
No matter what the journey holds, today we both begin.
Hand in Hand together, faithful to the end."

As a young, naieve 21 year old, I couldn't imagine the triumphs, and especially not the pain we would encounter in just 7 years. But I am thankful to say, that we have come out stronger, and still Hand in Hand.

Just for fun, here is a picture of our wedding day. I love you, babe!

The Fruit of the Spirit: Love

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.- Galatians 5:22

At the prompting of the Holy Spirit, I am going to begin a (hopefully!) weekly Bible study on my blog. I am starting it specifically for some girls I, along with my friend Kristina, discipled at Emmanuel (our old church), but anyone is more than welcome to participate!

Here is the format: I am going to take a fruit of the Spirit each week and get YOU to study that particular fruit. That way, we can each learn what God wants us to learn! When you have completed the study for the week, post your responses as a comment. That way, we can all learn from each other! Then, at the end of the week, I will comment on everyone's responses and add some thoughts of my own.

So here we go for the first week:
Go to crosswalk.com and look at the top right corner. Enter the word "love" (Or whatever the topic of the week is) in the search engine where it says "Search the Bible." I used the New International version, and got 496 results! After this, choose ONE verse and then, go to your own Bible and read the entire chapter that includes that verse. For example, the first that came up is Genesis 20:13, so I would go to my Bible and read Genesis chapter 20. BUT since there are 496 results, each of you choose your own!

Then, comment on this post (you don't have to be a blogger to do this, just check the name/URL option and type in your name) and answer these questions:

1)Was the love talked about in the chapter you chose speaking of God's love towards man, man's love towards God, or man's love towards another person? Briefly summarize what the chapter is about, since we're all reading different ones!

2) What can we learn about love from this chapter?

3) What have you learned from this chapter that you need to apply to your life, concerning love, or anything else God wants you to learn?

Since this is the first week, I will do an example under the comments section. Try to have your responses in by next Thursday (August 7) and by then, the next topic should be posted! I am so excited about this! E-mail me if you have any questions!