Spray-On Tan

Brace yourself for my long-windedness...

It seems as though Caleb is very sensitive to the carotenes in his food. He only eats 1 orange vegetable a day, but my dad says that there are as much carotenes in green beans as in carrots. So...needless to say my little guy looks orange most of the time. We went up to the school where I taught for the last three years a couple of weeks ago and one of the fifth grade teachers said that he looks like he has a spray-on tan. He really does most of the time! However, I assure you that I am not subjecting my 8 month old son to a cosmetic alteration!

Today marks the 7-year anniversary since Kevin and I started dating. It is hard to believe!!! I am still amazed that we ended up together. I know that it must have been God's plan for things to have worked out the way that they did. I can tell you that I do not know a sweeter, more thoughtful man than my husband. I don't think I could have dreamed of a better man to spend my life with. Having Caleb has added a new appreciation to my love for him...not only is he my amazing husband but now he is an incredible father to our son. He is such an example to me and I love him for continually challenging me to be a better person. I thank God everyday for putting Kevin in my life!

On another note, I have been doing an online Beth Moore study called "Believing God" (which I am shamefully slow at completing--rather than watching the lesson and doing the homework in 1 week as it should be, it seems to take me 3 weeks). I am always amazed how my individual study time makes such a difference in my relationship with God. It makes me feel so guilty that I seem to have such a problem making that a priority. The most important job as a mother is to do everything in my power to get my kid(s) to Heaven someday. The main way that Caleb is going to learn about God in his early years is by our example. Kevin and I have had many discussions on making sure that we are keeping our individual relationships strong so that we can be an example to Caleb. I feel like I have already had a hard time with this. Instead of insisting that I take at least 10-15 minutes a day studying and reading during my free time, I would rather write on this blog or watch a movie we ordered from Netflix. I don't know why it is so hard! That is definitely the most important thing in life...I just need to remember that during my daily activities. Another aspect that Kevin and I want to be examples of is serving others. Again, this seems to take a backseat to all the menial daily activities that occupy my time. There are so many people in need and so many things to do that opportunities to serve are everywhere. However, I really want Caleb to be involved in most of these opportunities (even though he won't actually be doing anything for a while). If anyone has any ideas of things that I can do with Caleb or things that we can do as a family, let me know.

Finally, last week in the Bible study the topic was on believing that God can do what He says He can do. This includes miracles. Beth pointed out that a lot of churches these days are considering miracles to be a thing of past generations. She posed that perhaps we see little because we believe little. I think miracles still happen today...my sweet niece and nephews (the triplets) are a testament to that...they are so healthy and happy! She gave several examples of medical miracles in the homework that totally blew me away. We have some close friends who are currently going through some very serious medical issues. This has rejuvenated my prayer life...instead of praying the generic prayer that God "be" with these people (which of course still applies), I am praying that He would heal them completely. I fervently want to believe that it is possible. Surely the God who created EVERYTHING can intervene in one of His creations and perform the supernatural. We just have to have the faith to ask...

Within a few hours after writing this post, I did my study for the day. I feel like Beth Moore's words were said directly to me, "I have undoubtedly discovered that if Satan can't get to me with destruction, he will try to get to me with distraction. We have only one turn on this green earth. We will never get to do this again. We cannot do a hundred things to the glory of God, but Dear One, we can certainly do a few. What you and I need is focus. Day in and day out. Eyes on the goal."