The Night Watches

I have decided that the most frequently asked question to a parent of a baby is "Why is he crying?" I have also decided that this is not only a silly question but an unhelpful one to any new parent. Do I speak baby fluently? Did I get a degree is infant psychology? Have I been doing this for more than 2 months? As you can guess, the answer to all of the above questions is an emphatic no. So when I am asked this question, I can only reply with a quizzical look, and say, “I have no idea!” The reason I have decided that this is not only silly but unhelpful, is that as a new parent, I am just trying to figure this out like the rest of the world. I do not know why my child is crying, but I am learning how to discern this each time he cries, and am sure that it has something to do with food, but never the less... So why unhelpful, you may ask? Well, it is simple... For some reason, people think that you SHOULD know why your child is crying at any time. When you don’t, and I often ...

I knew that sleep depravation was something that came right along with parenthood, but I do not think that I truly knew what that looked like or what to expect. When people ask, "How was your night," or “How is he sleeping?” I don’t know what to say. I tell them, “I am surviving on 4 hours of sleep….” Then they say, "In a row?" I simply smile and say, "I wish!” If it were only those precious moments of quiet sleep that I have to survive on, I would be lost. There would be no hope for me, and we most likely would have no more children. Yet here I am, on yet another day, surviving. Not just surviving, but finding joy in so many moments with Tyler and being a homemaker. How? It is so simple- The GLORIUS and LAVISH GRACE OF GOD. It amazes me that day after day, and night after sleepless night, I am carried by this grace, without ever asking for it and often times forgetting to say thank you. How simple God makes it for us to give hi...

There is something wonderful about seeing Jordan holding his son. It might be the tenderness that Jordan has towards this little boy, or the funny voices he speaks to him in... and perhaps it is how tiny Tyler looks in his hands. It melts my heart, and endears me to this man that God has given me every time I look at him holding Tyler. Here are some pictures of my two favorite men.

Tyler got to see his Great Grandma Rose and Aunts and Uncles and even a second cousin last night. He did great, being passed around for all to see... well except for when his cousin Eric held him... We are so grateful to God to have our family so close. We want Tyler to grow up aware of how blessed he is to have this kind of family. When I think of how many children in the United States, grow up without a relationship to their extended family, I remember how truly blessed we are. By God's grace, we have been able to maintain these bonds through many trials and joys. The Lord has given my son a great inheritance indeed... he is already the recipient of so much love and care and he is totally oblivious to it! Isn't that how we are more often than not, about the rich blessings the Lord has put around our own lives. I know that, like Tyler, I am clueless to the many blessings and provisions the Lord has mercifully placed around me daily. I need help to see them, to be reminded of t...

Are we in trouble or what? I can only imagine what will happen to my heart when he looks up at me with this face asking for something!  

Just a fun pict of our boy in his first snow. We got about 13 inches here, more than we have had in some time! We had fun staying warm INSIDE, while daddy cleaned off the cars!

Psalm 119:148 "My eyes are awake before the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promise." As we welcomed our first little one into our lives, we also welcomed a new time of day to our experience. The night watches, as I call them, or any time between 1 am and 4 am, were usually times I liked to find myself sung in bed, sleeping the night away. However, parenthood has changed that completely. And so, I find myself daily, or nightly, awakened to the cries of Tyler in the night watches. The nights filled with 8 hours of sleep are a distant memory, replaced by the nights when 3 consecutive hours of sleep are a treat! It has only been one month of this nightly ritual, and yet God has already begun to teach us many things about sacrifice, serving, and the condition of our hearts. Our little baby is crying out for help, and I can be so selfish that I would rather sleep than get out of bed to serve him! How disgusting is the condition of my heart. What a joy to ...