Pure Joy

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds

James 1:2 (NIV)

Seriously, what the pants kind of statement is that.  When I am in those moments of trials, heartache, and pain, I don't see pure joy.  This verse came up a few weeks ago in a study of the book of James. For whatever reason for the following days, I could not get that verse out of my head.....

Fast forward a day or two later and I was driving our tiny little Honda CR-V with the 3 boys in the back.  I am sure they were chatting away and blowing up other vehicles on the road with their imaginary bombs and other explosive devices (that's how we roll in the little CR-V).  

I was lost in my own little world reflecting on the fact that Gavin is almost THREE years old and reflecting back to the intense heartache that we were going through three years ago.  At that time, my heart was heavy and I wanted more than anything in the world to have another child in our family.  We had watched the families of dear friends and close family grow.... while we remained a family of three.  

Then, all of a sudden as I was driving, it hit me.  PURE JOY.  I would go through all that pain again and all that longing again to get to be Gavin's Mommy again.  As I type this, the memories of the pain of pregnancy loss and the inability to conceive go away and I think of the pure joy of Gavin joining our family.  Don't get me wrong.... there are some less joyful moments with any two (almost three) year old around, but words cannot even adequately express how happy and joyful I am that we get to love on Gavin and see him growing up.  I cannot imagine life without him.  That day in the car, I looked back at him with a heartfelt smile of joy.... that was likely returned with an imaginary grenade, but again, that's how we roll.   

There were so many times during that dark phase of life that I begged and pleaded with God for another child.  Begged.  Pleaded.  Fasted.  Cried.  Begged more.  God had a different plan than my original plan.  It reminds me a bit of the small children in our home.  They often ask for something once and when the answer is "no", they just continue to ask louder.... begging and pleading more with each request.  They are insistent that they know what is going to be best for them and what will satisfy their needs, give them pure joy.  If they could only understand that the reason I am telling them "no" is in their best interest; if only they could see the pure joy instead of just the immediate "no".  

I'm not sure I can say that I now completely understand everything about the aforementioned verse in James, but maybe a bit more than a did a few months ago.  Maybe the pure joy isn't immediate when we are facing trials, but maybe I also just need to be a bit more patient. 

Gavin adds an element of fun to our family.... that our genetics likely would not have produced. :)  He is a complete crack up and a bundle of energy.  He makes everything fly off the couches.... cars, toys, himself.  

I can honestly, finally, say that I am thankful for the pain that resulted in pure joy for our family.  

Love you, Gavin.  

Seriously, can he get much cuter.  My heart swells to see his little smile.  :)

Whatever It Takes

While we were living in Bend, OR I read a wonderful book titled "Organized Simplicity" by Tsh Oxenreider.

It is a great book that talks a lot about how to live an organized simple life in a world that is anything but simple.  I LOVE organized and simple.  Yes, sign me up.  I believe it was that book which spoke about developing a family mission statement.  Just like a company that has a mission statement, the goal is that the family mission statement reflects how the family makes its decisions.  It sounded fantastic.... but we never really got there.

However, we do have a family motto.  It has come about in the past year since becoming a family of five.  It is:

Whatever. It. Takes.

And how that plays out in daily life?!?  It's fantastic.  Today has been a "Whatever. It. Takes." day.

So.... Owen developed a fever on Monday that has persisted through the week. Elijah came home from school sick on Tuesday.  Elijah has strep throat.  And through his new rash, it has just been revealed tonight that Owen had roseola.  Awesome.    

Owen was up most of the night last night.  Elijah... well he's just been home when he would normally be at school.  And Gavin.... he has been stuck in the house all week because you can't really go anywhere with sick brothers.  Except for that HOUR we spent in the tiny exam room at the doctor's office.  With only 2 squinkies to entertain 3 boys.  It was (not exactly) AWESOME.

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Marty got up with the boys at 5:00 this morning and he let me sleep until 6:45.  Fantastic.  His first comment to me was "The boys have mostly watched TV for the past two hours".  

Whatever. It. Takes.

Owen hasn't really eaten all week because he isn't feeling well.... but I found some Gerber Toddler Food that looks kind of like Cheetos for babies.  He ate that for breakfast.


Whatever. It. Takes.

Around 8 or so, after some morning coffee for me, Owen was ready for a nap.  I put him down, the big boys watched more TV and I took a shower.  It was awesome.  


Whatever. It. Takes.

By that point, I had just decided this was definitely the motto of the day... the goal was to say "yes" to whatever the boys ask even though it goes against everything that the American Academy of Pediatrics says is okay.  Seven hours of TV - sounds great to me!  You want to eat muffins all day - go for it... they are gluten, grain, dairy, soy, and sugar free (really, they are.... and pretty tasty, but that is for another post).  

In addition to the copious amounts of television watching that has been going on, today has actually been FANTASTIC.  

The boys spent most of the day in their pajamas.

Except Gavin because on a whim I decided to take away Gavin's pants (literally) and insist he try potty training.  The entire day was a huge success.  Partly because I decided to just put the potty chair in the middle of the kitchen.  Totally appropriate, right?

Whatever. It. Takes.

  

Owen decided to use the garbage can as a walker and he has been walking all over the house. Not sure if that is a positive thing or not... but anyway....

I don't have a photo of Owen walking... but he also learned to climb onto the couch by himself today.  And from the couch he has easy access to my desk.  Uhmmm... not so awesome.  

Gavin let out a little cheer each time he asked "watch more TV?" and I responded with "YES!".

And at one point I found Elijah and Owen (not-so-happily from Elijah's standpoint) reading a book together.  It was super cute.

Yeah for our family motto:


Whatever. It. Takes.

Maybe I need to implement it more often.