First Baptism Service

One of my all-time favorite church events is a baptism service. When Hubby and I were in college, we attended a church of several thousand that celebrated baptism every Sunday as an element in their evening services. I loved hearing how each person met Jesus, how their lives had changed since following Him, and how excited they were to take this next step of faith in their journey. The joy on their faces following baptism was beautiful and priceless.

I just love celebrating baptism, so you can imagine my excitement yesterday when our church plant Crossings Church hosted its first baptism with a picnic and service. We kicked off the afternoon with a water balloon toss in the sun, followed by playing board games in the shade. We grilled for dinner and had sundaes for dessert! (Side note: I forgot to pack a grilling spatula, so we almost had no way to flip the burgers. Key word: almost. We found a pie server and metal ruler in the cars which worked quite nicely! Mid-air collision avoided!)

We celebrated with worship and prayer on the beach before the baptism in the lake. The service was beautiful, the joy indescribable!

As [Phillip and the Ethiopian] traveled along the road, they came to some water, and the Ethiopian said, "Look, here is water. Why shouldn't I be baptized?"

Acts 8:36

If you would like to see all of pictures from the picnic and baptism, click here.

An At-Home Date Night

Earlier this month, we decided to celebrate Hubby's birthday at home since we knew we'd be dining out several times in the following weeks. Truthfully our at-home date nights almost always consist of crashing on the couch after Little Boy goes to bed, ordering pizza, and watching a movie. Exciting, I know. But lately I've been inspired to try to be more creative with the way we spend our time together.

So I started out thinking that I would just cook Hubby a nicer-than-usual dinner and then maybe we could play games. But once the creative gears in my head started turning, I landed on a more elaborate, more elegant, more romantic, more fun date night plan!

the setting
Using our every day dishes seemed too ordinary for a special night, but we don't own a complete set of China. I immediately went on a hunt for nice but inexpensive place settings that included a soup bowl, salad plate, and dinner plate. I landed on a perfect black and white floral set at Wal-Mart where I paid less than $8 for two place settings! In our attic, I found a black table cloth and red napkins from a previous Christmas celebration. I added a row of white tea lights to the table. I turned on my favorite Josh Groban CD as background music. Voila! Perfect! Romantic!

the menu
Starters:
Creamy Tomato Soup with Basil
Lettuce Leaf Salad with Grapes and Walnuts
Main Course:
Spinach and Pancetta Stuffed Shells
Steamed Broccoli and Carrots
Dessert:
Oreo Fudge Ice Cream Cake

Inspired by the formal dining on our recent cruise, I decided to serve the meal in courses. I found the soup in the organic food section of the supermarket. We absolutely love fruit and nuts in our salad. My dad had made the stuffed shells for us before, and the recipe is seriously as amazing as anything you would order in a nice Italian restaurant. Josh's favorite dessert is ice cream, so I purchase him an ice cream cake for his birthday every year. This year I went a step farther and actually made the cake, tweaking a recipe I received from a friend.

While Hubby knew that I planned to cook him a birthday dinner, he had no idea how far my plans had taken me or what I intended to serve. I did all my cooking and baking when Hubby was out of the house, quite the challenge since he works from home! I hand washed all the dishes I used, so he wouldn't notice an overflow of dishes in the dishwasher. I hid the finished products as best I could but ended up banning him from the refrigerator and freezer the day of our date night.

We both dressed up, him in khakis and a polo, me in a skirt and blouse. I had him put the baby to bed while I set the table. With the dining room table transformed and the meal much nicer than our usual at-home fare (and a far cry from Papa John's pizza!) we had so much fun and such a good time that I hardly noticed that I was the one serving and cooking the food.

Our creative juices (okay, maybe just mine) are definitely flowing for the next at-home date night! In the meantime, I'd really love to hear what all of you do to keep the romance alive at home when you can't find a sitter or just need an inexpensive but fun and romantic date night. Comment below!

Also, if anyone is interested in the recipes for the stuffed shells or ice cream cake, let me know, and I can post those in a future post.

Nap Time Woes

Little Boy has decided that he only needs one nap a day now instead of two. Actually he decided that several weeks ago, but I refused to comply and insisted on putting him down for two naps anyway even though he spent at least one of those nap periods giving loud, long, boisterous speeches and shaking his crib so hard I thought the bed would just collapse on top of him. Apparently we have a much sturdier crib than I would have guessed.

So I have finally relented and am allowing Little Boy to only take one nap a day. Only Little Boy is not entirely sure when he wants to have that one nap. Some days he wants to go to bed at 9am. Other days he doesn't want a nap until 2pm. If by chance I put him down too early, the entire house is subjected to one of those long-loud-boisterous speeches which are actually becoming less cute and more angry as he gets more frustrated about being forced to sleep when he doesn't want to. I also run the risk of him refusing to go down for another nap later in the day when he actually becomes tired enough to sleep. And if by chance I put him down too late, he's overtired and sleeps less than an hour causing him to be even more overtired and an absolute nightmare as the afternoon goes on. Sounds lovely, yes?

So I am at a complete loss of how to handle this transition from two naps to only one. I'm assuming most moms survive this phase? Any survival suggestions for a desperate mom? Because with me and Aiden facing off over these nap time woes, I feel that planes are crashing mid-air almost every afternoon!

Mistaken Identity

I just finished reading the book Mistaken Identity. All I can say is...wow. This story is almost too fantastic to be real. Five students and four faculty from Taylor University, a Christian school in Indiana, were traveling between two TU campuses in a school van when a semi-truck crossed the highway medium and hit the Taylor van from behind. Four students and one faculty died instantly; the other four passengers were critically injured. In the chaos of the crash scene, two students were misidentified. The Cerak family were told that their daughter Whitney had died in the crash. The Van Ryn family rushed to the hospital to care for their daughter Laura, the only surviving student, who was in a coma in the ICU. For five weeks the Van Ryns cared for their daughter as she emerged from her coma and started therapy. As "Laura" became more aware of her surroundings and started communicating more, the truth became apparent: the Laura Van Ryn in the hospital was actually Whitney Cerak.

Mind blowing? Absolutely yes! And if this is mind blowing for me, I cannot even begin to imagine what both families experienced living through this unbelievable tale. But what is more mind blowing is the strength, grace, and faith that these two families exhibited during this time. My faith and commitment to God were definitely challenged just reading this story and thinking about what I might do in their places. The book is filled with Scriptures and encouraging thoughts taken from the families' prayer times, journals, blogs, and memorial services. Mistaken Identity is beautifully written and does an excellent job communicating the story from the perspective of all those who were involved.

Did these families question God? Did any of them feel angry with God for all that they had been through? You cannot be human and not question or not be angry at some point in a situation like this, but what amazed me is that the families never fed their doubts or nursed their anger. Both families trusted in God and turned to Him.

Two impacting parts of this story for me:
-In the days leading up to Whitney's funeral, the Cerak family had a to-do list a mile long and numerous family and friends in town. But their daughter Carly insisted that they spend at least two hours every morning in prayer and worship. She said that they would not be able to survive the difficult time without starting the day with God. I identified with her mom's response: "Prayer time, yes! But two hours?!" Carly refused to take "no" for an answer though, and the family testified to how important that time with God was in the midst of their chaotic and difficult time.
-In the epilogue of the book, Whitney's mom confessed to the Van Ryn family that she struggled with talking to them because the Cerak family had the happy ending. The Van Ryns' response was "So did we. We just haven't seen all of it yet." A powerful statement about unwavering hope and heaven.

To this day, the families are close friends, and I feel like their story is such an inspiration and faith-builder. If you have a chance, grab a copy of the book (and box of tissues). This story is a must read.

How I know my hubby loves me...

...he brings me chai frappuccinos from Starbucks. And if anything can help a girl prevent the mid-air collisions in her life, it's a Starbucks frappuccino! Thanks, honey!

Yucky

Little Boy learns new words every day, which is absolutely so fun. He started using his first phrase - "What's that?" - a couple of weeks ago, and my favorite use of that phrase occurred during breakfast on Sunday. I had just handed him two slices of string cheese, and out of the corner of my eye, I watched him peer at them for a moment, pick them up, and then hurl them to the ground as if they had offended him in some way. I turned around and said, "Aiden, what did you just do with your cheese?" He surveyed his tray intently, then glanced over one side of the high chair, and then looked over the other side where the cheese lay defeated on the floor. He gasped and said, "Uh-oh! What's that?" in a tone that clearly said, "How in the world did my cheese get on the floor over here?" Where do kids learn these tricks?! Too cute!

But, friends, I am now in trouble from my hubby for teaching Aiden a not-so-cute word: Yucky. My intentions were good, I assure you. I thought "yucky" would be a great way to teach Aiden certain boundaries without teaching him the dreaded N-O word.

"Yucky" to pulling dirty diapers and wipes out of the diaper pail
"Yucky" to eating kernels of cat food that he found on the kitchen floor
"Yucky" to playing in the outdoor garbage cans on the side of the house

Unfortunately I failed to think through the possibility that Aiden might begin to grasp the concept of this word and start using it on his own terms.

"Yucky" to green beans for lunch just before he sends them flying through the air like green torpedoes
"Yucky" to the shirt I'm trying to desperately tug over his head as he attempts to throw himself off of the changing table
"Yucky" to the cashier at the grocery store for absolutely no reason

Now I have the nearly impossible task of trying to unteach a word. Or at the very least continue to get him to use words on my terms and not his.

Green beans are "yummy"
Clothes are "fun" (and "necessary")
Cashiers are "nice"
Dirty diapers are still "yucky"

Wish me luck! I'm afraid the learning and unlearning (or reassigning uses) of vocabulary words only gets harder from here on out!

Blog Title

Several months ago, during prayer time with my friend and her mother, I shared how tired and stressed I felt trying to manage my marriage, my little boy, the church plant, the little girl I nanny, and everything else life threw at me. Later my friend's mom told me that she once read that being a pastor's wife is one of the most stressful jobs, second only to an air traffic controller!

Since then I've learned that, among other responsibilities, an air traffic controller's job includes maintaining a safe and orderly flow of air traffic, moving all aircraft safely and efficiently through airspace and preventing mid-air collisions. An air traffic controller has one of the most difficult and stressful jobs today. In fact, their job is so stressful that a controller is only permitted to work two hours at a time before a break is required.

Maintaining an orderly flow of air traffic? Preventing mid-air collisions? Difficult and stressful? That describes my life perfectly! My main runways are Wife, Mom, Church Planter, and Nanny. The airplanes I oversee are Friend, Lover, Comforter, Nurse, Childcare Provider, Teacher, House Keeper, Landscaper, Financial Manager, Administrative Assistant, Ministry Coordinator, and more that I'm too tired to think of!

So now, whenever my responsibilities start piling up, I stop and laugh about how much my life really does resemble that of an air traffic controller. If they can do it, so can I! As far as having a mandatory break every two hours, I wish!

Can anyone else relate?

I'm Blogging?

As I sit here and type this, I can hardly believe that I've decided to enter the blogosphere! Two years ago I had absolutely no interest in blogging and only started a blog for our soon-to-be-born son after my hubby seriously pressured me to do so. But as time passed I not only enjoyed blogging but I also enjoyed reading blogs, following the lives of my friends and meeting new friends through blogs I've discovered along the way.

So here I am. I'm mainly doing this for me so that I can journal about my life and, at some point, look back and read about the thoughts, feelings, and circumstances that I experienced in months and years past. I'm not entirely sure if I'll be consistent or not, but I'm going to give this my best shot! I'm under no delusion that many will find my life super interesting or want to keep up with this blog. But for those who do, thanks for reading!