Love

 

Today I heard a sermon about love and how it is a word that is casually thrown around and misused. It reminded me of a song that is closely based on the following passage:

1 Corinthians 13

¹ If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. ¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Thrice - Moving Mountains

I'm reminded today that everything I do, everything I say, and everything I have is nothing without love.  Love is an action, not a feeling or emotion.  It can stir up feelings and emotions but it stands alone.  If I cannot love - truly love - then I can do nothing.  Today I remember what love is.

Mike

Happy Birthday Evalynn!

Yesterday was our little girlie's 2nd birthday. As a celebration of this event she gets a whole blog post to herself.

Hurricane Evalynn (as we like to call her) is trouble with a capital T. Her nickname does not do her justice. Simply leaving the room for a moment will result in Vaseline on a couch, diaper cream on a dresser or strawberry syrup on the floor and fridge. When she sets her mind to something she goes all out! Mike will often receive messages at work detailing the path of destruction that has occurred that day.

Then comes the eye of the storm. You know the destruction will return but you can't help but enjoy the calm. In these moments she is sweeter than sugar. She rocks her baby brother saying softly "shhhh baby, oh baby baby it doh-day", she nurses her dolls, she feeds you from her kitchen and brings you unlimited drinks from her singing tea pot.


She is determined, focused, and stubborn (where on earth could THAT have come from?). You know she won't let anyone push her around. Much to Daddy's delight she refuses to hold hands with the neighbourhood boys or kiss cuties on a bridge while on vacation. Evalynn loves kitties, purses, shoes and pink. Painted nails, makeup and playing mommy are on the agenda.

Evalynn, for the past 2 years you have brought joy and excitement in our lives to a new level and we look forward to many more years of the same! We love you!

The Stash

  I have a stash. An addiction of sorts. I can already see some of you smiling with the knowledge of what I am writing about. Yes, anyone who knows me knows I love my wraps. Not sandwich wraps, baby wraps. Wonderful, pretty long pieces of material to carry the kids in. It is my secret sanity saver. No, just one won't do... or even two. I have 14. I could name them all, but will spare you the list of words you can't understand. Instead - a picture!

  Some cotton, some silk, some wool and even one linen. With flowers, swirls, fishies or just plain. Blue, red, pink and green. Didymos and Storchenwiege. They would be grabbed when possible in the case of a fire. The ramblings of true obsession.

But they are more than just 4.6 meter long pieces of material. They snuggled my babies when they were less than 2 days old. They allowed for nap times while older children played at the park. They held them close while nurslings ate when mommy's hands were otherwise occupied. They are a blanket on the couch, a carrier for dolls, an accessory. They put cranky toddlers to sleep, soothe teething pains and make the owies go away (emotional and physical). They are worth every penny (and for those of you who don't know - sticker shock would have you stunned).

 

One will stay with me forever. Millie - blue with daisies. A wrap made for me! She was the first. Yes, like a man with his car they get a gender prescribed to them and even a name. She was a teacher's college graduation gift from my wonderful husband way back when I said "Why would you need more than one?" I will wrap my grandchildren in her during visits. Then there are legacy wraps. Wraps that will be saved and given to the kids to use with their children. A priceless hand-me-down that I hope they will love then like they do now.

  

And yes, I am crazy :)

~ Carly

The Back Rub

One of my favourite things to do for Carly is to give her back rubs. Partially due to the fact that she has a mild case of scoliosis, I know that she is prone to getting a stiff back and shoulders. Beyond that fact I know that, as the mother of 3 young children and a wonderful wife to me, she has the weight of the world on her shoulders from time to time.

The daily stress of fulfilling the needs of our 3 kids alone could be enough to make any ones back hurt. Our kids have a lot of energy! Hurricane Evalynn makes her way through the playroom on a regular basis and spreads the debris to as far as the hallway and kitchen. Aden, bless his soul, must be busy at all times. Whether it is playing a game, wanting to do a craft or going to the park, he always seems to be 2 tasks ahead of the rest of us.  Andrew does seem to be the mellow one so far.  He does still need the constant attention that any 5 month old would though. He loves to eat and he loves to be held!

I would hope that I help Carly with the daily requirements that our children and our marriage need.  I do know that I have my ways of heaping the weight onto her as well. It could be being a grump after a long or challenging day at work. Perhaps my anxiety for any given reason has picked up and caused me to be distracted by other things.

I am glad that at the end of a long day she doesn't hesitate to hand me a bottle of lotion and lay down on the floor/bed/couch. As I rub her back or neck and I can feel the tension slowly melt away I know the weight is lifting. As I hear the gentle breathing grow deeper and louder I know that she is leaving the troubles of the day behind her. As I realize that she has fallen into a peaceful sleep I can sit and watch her and know that all is well.

Mike

Making Plans

We have a plan. It's not a 5 year plan or even a 1 year plan. Our plan doesn't involve having "x" amount of money saved in a specific time frame or having our dream jobs. It doesn't specify when we should be done having children or even how many children we should have. You see, there is a funny thing about making those kinds of plans. When they don't work out how you would like you are left feeling empty and disappointed. We blame God. Couldn't he see he was messing up our plans?

We have had those kinds of plans. It was our plan to get married right after Carly graduated high school and before she started university. It was our plan to have our first child, Aden, shortly after that. There are some plans that seem to come easily.

Then there are those events we didn't plan on happening. Mike getting a kidney stone RIGHT after the honeymoon was NOT part of the plans. Struggles with family member hardships weren't expected. Our plan for a second child didn't play out the way we expected at all. 3 miscarriages in less than half a year and then over a year and a half of nothing was definitely not part of OUR plan. Depression, anxiety, job changes early in the marriage - all not planned.

Our second child, Evalynn, is an example of the timing of two different plans clashing a little. I'm sure Carly didn't plan to have do deal with morning sickness and the worry of carrying a baby to term at the same time she was going to teachers college and doing her practicums. Andrew, our third child, was a plan that we weren't expecting at the time and possibly didn't feel prepared for. Surprise! First try after years of disappointment just shortly before. 

After 10 years together and 7 years of marriage we realize now that we have spent so much time and energy trying to create and balance our plans for our lives. We also realize that we have regularly been excluding someone very important in our plan making. I can only imagine God looking down on all of us with a little bit of heartache as we create our plans with total disregard for HIS plans. So here is our new plan.  Look to God, give him everything, and let him do with it what he pleases. He says "For I know the plans I have for you... plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11) Why fight against that? It is reasonable to assume that it won't all be easy to follow and there will be times that we don't understand where he is taking us with his plans but we choose to trust that his way is the best way.