People and Places Plenty!

• First week of March: My mom visited; a friend joined us for a game day and dinner; the big kids enjoyed a play date with friends; and, we got to go on a double-date with some of our friends to see Tortured for Christ :) Great film!
• Second week of March: We had to go to Asheville one day for an appointment and then treated the kids to a bakery for behaving so well; I got to get a massage!;  attended a JAARS Day with some friends (a free family event on a Wycliffe campus in NC) which had a bunch of fun activities; and, went to small group.
• Third week of March: We had friends over for dinner; a good friend babysat so Ricky and I could go on a date to see the superb Broadway musical, Amazing Grace; attended the annual fundraiser for our local pregnancy care center; and, had several friends over to join us for pizza and Wonder (I was really surprised at how much the kids loved it!)
• Fourth week of March: We enjoyed a sweet long weekend visit with a good friend from Wilmington, and we went to small group.
• Fifth week of March: I met with the two women who are teaching a wellness class I am organizing for May; enjoyed friends visiting briefly; and, we went to DaySpring for four days to enjoy a few days there and drive to Wilmington for a day and go to our nephew's third birthday party :) 
• When we went to Asheville looking for a specific address, we ended up near a post office and Micaiah shockingly said, “We drove all this way to go to the post office?!?!” ;) And when we were about to enter this facility, there was a “Quiet please" sign on the door. And in we come with two small kids and a baby. When one of the men working there saw us entering, his jaw dropped and he stared at us in utter disbelief and fear. His expression was priceless! (He had no need to fear as all three children behaved wonderfully.)
• When we were going to my parents’ farm, Micaiah asked how much further when we were close. I told him that we had 20 more minutes. He exclaimed, “Twenty is not far from five and five is not far from zero!”

• School verses: Micaiah -- Isaiah 9:6, Romans 12:19 & 21, Psalm 27:14, Matthew 18:3, Proverbs 3:5-6 ; Aolani -- Jeremiah 33:3, 1 Timothy 4:12, Romans 8:38-39

You, God's Joy

I wanted to get this down before I forget it!

Having a newborn really brought meaning to Zephaniah 3:17!

He will take great delight in you, 

Newborns don’t DO anything. They just are. I would get overwhelmed with delight looking at him, coddling him, and nursing him — simply just with him BEING. And I realized that must be how God feels about us, delighting in our being, not trying to earn His delight by doing and serving and working and proving.

He will quiet you with His love, 

When he would get fussy or sad, I would gently shush him and pat him, reassuring him of my presence and that he’s going to be okay. This is quieting with love!

He will rejoice over you with singing. 

Sometimes when I am simply looking at and loving him, I would get so overjoyed that I couldn’t contain my heart. I would just erupt with singing and song would burst forth!

All of this 

God does 

Over you 

Just because 

You’re His.