A Significant Summer

This past Wednesday, we wrapped up our BSF study of Isaiah with Sharing Day. Oh, what a wrap up it was! So many women testified to what God had done in their lives through this study and I soaked it all in. We sang "To God Be The Glory" and it's true...great things He hath done.

The last chapter in Isaiah describes what Isaiah's been describing all year: a future of promise or peril, judgement or hope, reconciliation or retribution. For those who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, their future is one of productivity and fruitfulness. For those who reject Him as Lord, eternity is dismal. In our last lecture of the year, we were challenged to not allow our lives to end as abruptly as the book of Isaiah does but rather to persist in our growth with Christ. My mind drifted to this summer and how I desire a time of productivity and fruitfulness for my family.

Yes, many pool days.
Yes, many naps.
But also purpose.

Becky, who writes one of my FAVORITE blogs that I follow, is doing just this with her summer. I've never met her in person but we are sisters in Him. :) I struggle with organization and the Lord knew exactly what kind of structure I needed when he led her to write her most recent posts. I've now got three topics to help organize my intentions. Here are my personal goals for a significant summer:

Spiritual Goals:

1. Have a family theme night twice a month. (Sort of like a mini-VBS. I found some great ideas to get me started here. Maybe I'll venture out and plan my own by August.)

2. Start each day with morning worship and a devotional as an entire family. (I've got some ideas on how to include everyone since Bear's day sometimes starts at 5:00 a.m.)

3. Help serve lunches to needy children in our community through our church's outreach program, Fish4Kids, once a week.

Physical Goals

1. Run twice a week. (I'm not sure exactly how far, how long, or even where...but running none the less.)

2. Complete at least one segment of my kickboxing video twice a week. (Probably not the same days as the running....)

3. Clean out the closets in our house. (We have GOT to get some organization down somewhere!)

Relational Goals:

1. Have a date night with Bear twice a month. (This may sound very limited but it's better than what we've been doing! I've also got a scheme going to try and get free babysitting.)

2. Call my sister at least every other day. (Crazy as it sounds, before the twins sometimes we went weeks/months without talking! I have LOVED spending time with her while she stays at our parents' house. She went back home yesterday and I already miss her. I figured every day may overwhelm her and I don't want to spoil my chances of her moving out here so I'm going to try to restrain myself.)

3. Blog at least twice a week. (I've missed y'all too!)

Who's with me? Anyone else want a fruitful and productive summer? Tell me what you're planning!

Jonah the Jumpin' Bean

Jonah turned 4 on March 27 and we celebrated at "Pump It Up" in Athens. I went the easy route and didn't have it at our house this year. The kids had a blast! (And from the pictures, I think the dads did too.) I had forgotten my camera...and it's still missing!...but my brother-in-law and sister-in-law brought theirs. Thanks Uncle Josh & Aunt Allison!

 Jonah with the battering ram. I mean, is there a better way to say "Thank you for coming to my party" than to whap each guest with love? I didn't think so.

Papa, Bear's dad, and Landon wrestling it out.

Zach, Bear's best friend, and his two daughters, Lowen and Liesl.

This picture cracks me up.

Does anyone see a trend? I think we're getting Papa a season pass for his next birthday. :) He just loves his grandbabies!

This is Mr. "Rhino", our neighbor. He's Carter & Riley Kate's dad. His real name is Ryan but when you have a dad with the name Bear, everyone ends up getting animal names.

Sister did not miss a beat!

Here are my mother-in-laws. Grammy, Bear's stepmom (but we don't like that word) is on the left and Grandma (Bear's mom) is on the right. Grandma's holding Jillian, Jonah's newest cousin at the time and I've got Molly Kate.

See what I mean about the dads loving it?

Cake Time! Jonah requested a superhero cake. When I asked for clarification as to which superhero he wanted, he said, "All of them!" But of course.

It's family tradition to steal a fingerful of icing. That one's passed down from Papa himself.

I told you Sister didn't miss a beat!



Landon and Liesl...don't you love her pearls?

 It was a great day! The best part? The way all the kids (and dads) napped afterwards. :)

SSMT #9

I bet you thought I'd quit, didn't you? Nope! I have no idea what happened to my 7th verse but I did have one. I just never shared. It was for April 1 and no, it wasn't my version of an April Fool's joke. I just looked at my post history and that was during my unintended month long hiatus from blogging. Goodness! Well, here's #7:

"A wise woman strengthens her family but a foolish woman destroys hers by what she does."

Proverbs 14:1 (NCV)

I just posted about verse 8 and it's that time again. Mem-o-ry Verse Num-ber Ni-i-i-i-ine. (Imagine me singing that to the tune "Love Potion Number Nine" with a head bobble and a bit of shoulder action.)

"You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God."

2 Corinthians 9:11 (NIV)

I almost got to live this one out today and it's only May 2. On my way to Snellville today, I passed a green van with a man standing out front holding a white posterboard sign. It read "FAMILY IN NEED OF FOOD AND GAS TO GET HOME" in marker scrawled handwriting. I was on the phone with Bear and asked him if I should turn around and help them. Normally I wouldn't put myself or my kids in jeopardy if we're alone without Bear but this van had a woman and two kids in the back. What was the harm? He said it was my call. By the time we finished our conversation, I was right in front of my intended destination so I pulled in and ran my errand thinking that I'd get some gas for them on my way back. I had no cash but there was a QuickTrip almost directly across the street from the stranded van. I could tell them I was getting them gas and see if they had enough to pull into the gas station with me so I could fill up their car.

When we all piled back in the car, Jonah asked me if we were going to stop and help that family. I told him that's exactly what we would do. As I got within seeing distance of the vehicle, I noticed that the police had stopped. I was a bit relieved thinking that God had provided me with a little reassurance that I was doing the right thing. As I merged into the turning lane, I noticed four BIG guys in handcuffs sitting along the curb. What? The policemen were wearing latex gloves and searching the green van that I could've sworn had just been carrying a family of four minutes earlier. One of the men had a ponytail and it was high on his head. I had mistaken him for a woman when I drove by earlier and the other two heads in the back I had just automatically credited to being the two children of the needy family.

Isn't that crazy how I was so deceived?! And I was so excited about living out my generosity so that a needy family could praise God and give Him thanksgiving. I even had gotten my little SSMT spiral out so that I could share with them why I had stopped. Bummer. I guess I could've stopped and shared anyway but from the look on the police officers' faces, it wouldn't have been a good time. Jonah was bummed too. His little innocent world had been shattered. He kept asking me why the police thought the family were bad guys and didn't understand that it wasn't a family at all. He was so excited to get to help someone and practice what we talk about. Did I mention that the police had several wooden clubs and trash bags full of who knows what out of the van and laid them out on the pavement?

I'm still on the lookout! I've got to be ready on every occasion. I'd just prefer no blunt objects or trash bags to hide the bodies please.

Jonism: A Blogging Revival?

Over the past week, Jonah's added to his strange individualistic vocabulary. Hopefully, he'll keep me in abundant supply of blogging material since I've been rather at a loss lately. (Well, it's not really material per se as it has been time.)

He has a small blemish on his right cheek. I tried to inspect it one night during bath time because it looked like a bug bite to me. He greatly protested and said, "Mommy! Leave my flickle alone!"

That's right. A flickle. Not a pimple. Not a freckle. But a flickle.

His tastes have also graduated now that he's four. I guess you grown-up taste buds accompany grown-up acne. He doesn't like just plain, old vanilla ice-cream anymore. Now, he prefers it covered in hot swudge swauce. (Always said with a swirly flourish of his hand as if he's swooping a Dairy Queen cone with the perfect swirly finish, much to his father's chagrin.)

Must get that from his Mama. His sister shares the same inherited trait.

I picked him up from preschool the other day and he informed me that one of the boys in his class was absent that day.
     "Hmmm, do you think he was sick?" I inquired.
     "Oh Mommy, yes! He has pig eye!"
     "Pig eye?"
     "Yes. It's when your eyes get pink like a pig's and they're really itchy."

I'm not so sure my hopes and dreams for medical school will play out.

I saved the best for last. Just when you think my child is destined for a minimum wage job that requires absolutley no verbal skills whatsoever, he goes and says....

At BSF the other day, Jonah's class was talking about how Jesus is called many different things in Scripture. He's known as Messiah, Christ, Savior, God's Son, etc. Jonah's hand shot up. (When his teacher was telling me this story, my brain immediately thought, "There is noooooo tellin'..." at this exact moment.)
     "Yes, Jonah?" the teacher asked.
     "Jesus has LOTS of nicknames."

If not an MD, than maybe a teacher of the Word?

A Double Portion

[Posted with permission from my sister. For an even more beautiful account with breathtaking pictures, go to Stephanie's post. You'll need an exuberant amount of tissue for either.]

Well, I've been absent for far too long. I've missed all of my blogging sisters and I've missed sharing in your lives and love for the Lord! Gosh. I've missed you.

Some of you already know, but my sister lost both of her twins this week. She developed an infection that caused her body to go into labor. They stopped the labor but the infection had already spread causing her entire womb to be infected. The only choice to save her was to birth the babies at 21 weeks gestation. It was the most tragic and the most beautiful thing I believe I will ever witness.

Before delivering, we had a strong prayer time. We beseeched our living & active God to come into the room and completely heal Katie. We asked in confidence for a closed cervix & restored amniotic sacs. We asked for the infection to be cast out and for her fever to disappear in Jesus' Name. I know that God was in that room. I know that Jesus Christ Himself was with us. We fully expected for our prayers to be specifically answered. When they checked Katie, Sailor was already in the process of being born. God answered in a way that we didn't understand. Katie said it best when she said in the silence of the room, "Well. I asked God to take my infection away. The babies are the infection. He's taking the babies."

Sailor Marie Cobb was born at 11:37 p.m. on Thursday, April 21. Maundy Thursday. Sailor never spent a moment here on earth.

Ryder Hunt Cobb was born at 6:45 a.m. on Friday, April 22. Good Friday. If anyone knows what it's like to lose a son, especially on that day, it's God. He was born alive and his heart continued to beat for about 2 hours after he entered this world. What I saw in those moments was breathtaking. Katie scooped that baby up and became the BEST mother I've ever seen. Her strength was indescribable. She set aside her own emotions and with every bit of her being loved that baby. I still can't even begin to imagine how in the world she did it.

Yes, I can. Jesus.

Medically speaking, Katie will make a complete recovery. Her womb will be completely healed and she is physically able to be a mother in the time she chooses. I praise God for that restoration.

Emotionally speaking, Katie has a hard road ahead of her. I don't even know what it will entail but God has surrounded her with friends that have experienced the very same thing and she has their comfort and wisdom.

Spiritually speaking, Katie will never be the same. None of us will.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28 (emphasis mine)

The Cobb/Jarvis/Keeling family shared something incredible and God is knitting our hearts together in a way that we could never do on our own. His Presence with us is such a mighty thing. My SSMT verse a couple of times ago was Colossians 2:2-3...

"My goal is that their hearts, having been knit together in love, may be encouraged, and that they may have all the riches of understanding of the knowledge of the mystery of God, namely Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."

Who knew how true that would be..... We don't have full understanding of the mystery of God but we do have full understanding of the knowledge of that mystery. I hope that makes sense. We don't understand it but we understand knowing it. And I'm completely okay with not understanding it because He does.

My next SSMT verse is my prayer for Katie, Ryan, and our whole family. Please join me.

"Instead of shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours." Isaiah 61:7 (NIV) (emphasis mine)