7 Quick Things 2/21

1. We are finally on our own here at the Dennis house: My parents have come and gone and Kevin's Mom is back home, too. We loved having them, but now it's time to figure out the 'new normal' with a newborn in the mix. Elijah is doing well. He is starting to smile occasionally which is so much fun!

2. Last Thursday we took the kids to Cherry Berry to celebrate not having to show houses any more! (Did I mention that the family we are renting from sold their house?) The kids worked so hard so many times over the past year and a half, dropping everything to clean, organize, stage, and leave quickly for a showing. It has been so nice to not have to have the possibility of a showing in the back of my mind anymore!

3. The Lord has provided for us so wonderfully. We have a place to move to! A single man in our church is moving away and doesn't want to sell his house, so he has agreed to rent his home to us. It's large enough for our family and very close to our church, so we'll be saving some gas money, too! We found out recently that most owners of four-bedroom homes won't rent to a family of 10 (max of 2 children per bedroom), so we most likely would have had a hard time finding anything affordable for our family. Thank you Lord! We will move on April 24.

4. I am plugging away to finish my 2011 Bible reading plan. I have not been very consistent, but I'm not giving up! I probably have another two months until I'm able to complete the whole Bible. After that, I plan on delving into a few books of the Bible more in-depth with commentaries. There is so much I don't understand or know about God's word. It is so rich and deep--I think I'll spend my whole life learning more and more.

5. Now that we aren't receiving wonderful meals from friends that come with delicious desserts, and now that Valentine's Day is over, I am without excuse when it comes to getting serious about tackling my baby weight. Right now I have roughly twenty extra pounds, and I am asking the Lord to help me honor Him with my eating: for health, energy, and losing that extra weight. So often I don't think of eating as a spiritual issue. But it really is. It's about self-control and caring for this body so I can serve Him better.

6. While my Mom-in-law was here, I found myself self-concious about my impatient and unloving tone with the kids. This is not something new; I have struggled with this my entire career as a Mom. I think just knowing someone else was listening, too, made me more aware! I'm devoting myself to prayer about this and asking for growth in this area. One of the things that I love about Michelle Duggar is her calm and gentle voice with her children. I want that to characterize my mothering, too.

7. I'm reading a fantastic book right now. I could share so many different quotes that have encouraged me, but I'll just pick one.

When a friend gives a wonderful gift, it is right to examine and relish the gift. But it isn't right for the glory to remain on the gift itself, no matter how wonderful it may be. The focus belongs on the generosity of the giver....The gospel is good news for us, yes, but the goodness of this good news is not primarily about us or even our new identity. It is good news about him: his mercy, his faithfulness, his holiness and atoning sacrifice. It's a report about his great condescension as he traded his glorious identity for our shameful one. It's about his flawless character and infinite compassion. Even though he has become our life, the emphasis belongs on him, not on our identity, our sin, our standing, our successes, or even our joys. As wonderful as the gift of an entirely new, clean identity is, we won't spend eternity rejoicing in it. We'll spend eternity rejoicing in him. p. 61