Zeke!

Zeke is 3 months old today!  He is getting more and more chubby by the day!  I sometimes wonder if he hadn't been two weeks early if he'd outweigh Noah, who was our biggest baby.  He still sleeps wonderfully, as he has his entire life.  He's been smiling a lot more and I think I heard a tiny giggle yesterday, but he hasn't replicated it again... so I guess we'll just have to wait a little longer to hear that cute sound.  He's been getting some Daddy time Sunday mornings since I started teaching Eli's class again.  It's only been two times, and the first one was not so great, but today he fell right to sleep in Jonny's arms.  His napping is working out into a more regular routine- about three, sometimes four naps a day.  He's a typical fourth child and sleeps any chance he can wherever he is.  He especially likes the Moby wrap these days, as do I.  I love having him right up against me.  Jonny has been wanting to cut Zeke's hair since last month, but I haven't wanted to.  Yesterday, I sorta caved.  It was thinning out quite a bit, but I thought it was still cute.  He looks like a totally different baby now, still cute, of course; but I kinda miss his hair!  After we cut his hair we noticed that the back right side of his head is somewhat flat.  At Zeke's two month appointment, Dr. Hathaway noticed a flat spot and said it might help to move his swing to a different wall- thinking that he keeps turning his head toward the same direction- where the action is in our home.  We won't go in again until next month, but Jonny's already talking about getting one of those baby helmets to help fix the flat spot.  The helmets aren't huge like bicycle helmets; they're actually pretty cute, and you can decorate them.... but I don't know... I don't want his head to have a funny shape, but I'm not sure I want him to wear a helmet for six months!  If you think of it, you can pray for little Zekers that its nothing wrong, just a harmless flat spot, and that maybe God can have it grow properly.  
Here's our little baby cakes!

Siah!

Josiah Owen Oelkers is the cheerful little 22mo. old living in our house.  He is known as Siah, SiSi, Bean, SiSi Bean, SiSi Owen, Cute Cute, and his brothers call him BooBoo.  This boy brings so much joy to our home and fills his mommy and daddy with delight.  Sure, he is a toddler and starting to touch and get into everything, but he's pretty much cute ALL THE TIME! 

Something cool about the book of Isaiah

I cannot express how much I love our church!  The people.  The teaching.  The different ministries.  The worship.  I've grown and learned so much in our experience here.  

We're working through Isaiah right now, and on Sunday Pastor Rob explained how the book of Isaiah can be likened to a miniature bible.  The book of Isaiah has 66 chapters, like the bible has 66 books.  The book of Isaiah can be broken into two sections, much like the bible is broken into two sections- the Old and New Testaments.  There are 39 books in the Old Testament and 27 books in the New Testament.  Interestingly, the change of sections of the book of Isaiah happens after the first 39 chapters.  The first 39 chapters are dealing with, for the most part, judgement and condemnation of sin, just like the first 39 books of the bible which leave the world condemned.  Then, the last 27 chapters of Isaiah present pardon, deliverance and redemption from captivity in Babylon.  So too, the NT is all about pardon, redemption, and deliverance from captivity.  The second half of Isaiah begins with a voice crying out in the wilderness... sound familiar?  Much like John the Baptist is said to be a voice crying out in the wilderness, as described in the first four gospels in the NT.  Then, Isaiah ends talking about a new heaven and a new earth, just like the very last book of the bible- Revelation.  Rob explained that the second half of the book of Isaiah can be broken into three 9 chapter divisions- the greatness of God, the graciousness of the Son, and the future glorious work of the Kingdom that will be established on earth, with a special emphasis on the work of the Spirit.  Hello!?  NT!!  Lastly, he pointed out that at the heart of those last 27 chapters of Isaiah is Isaiah 53.  (If you haven't read it, READ it!  I know most of us have at least part of it memorized.)  It's the NT!  Father, Son & Holy Spirit.  More specifically, it speaks of the sacrifice of the Son who was wounded for our transgressions.  He was bruised for our iniquities.  The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.

I just think that is SO COOL!  I love learning things like that!

Breathing in God's Word

Generally speaking, I'm handling four boys pretty well.  I've got a schedule/routine posted to our fridge that helps me stay focused and organized.  We have days where we do things differently, like yesterday which was a "clean up & catch up day" which followed our lazy, or maybe I should say restful, Wednesday.  Then there are those crazy chaotic times that throw me for a loop and challenge my patience and multitasking.  

Like this morning, for example; when I turned my warm shower water and heard Zeke crying in his swing.  As I threw my bath robe on and rushed out to the living room, I got a whiff of a rank smell coming from Siah.  Once I made it to the bathroom and began to change Siah's diaper, with Zeke in my lap, I could hear hollering and crying coming from the playroom.  Great, a fight.  Now!?  I'm not even dressed, my hair is dripping wet, I have a baby in my lap, another baby getting his diaper changed, and two yelling at each other?  Ahh!!  BUT by the grace of God, I remembered what I wrote about the other day- how I'm raising up men here.  How some day I might actually miss all four of them needing me at the same time.  God gave me the strength to handle it all patiently.  He gave me the wisdom to speak to Eli and Noah about their behavior, instead of snapping at them.  And you know what?  Everything settled down fine.  I sat down to nurse my sweet Zekers, Siah played at my feet and Eli and Noah carried on wonderfully in the playroom.  Ten minutes of chaos could have ruined my morning if I let the craziness get to me and reacted in the flesh.  Thank You, Lord, for teaching me to be patient and thankful in these situations.  Thank You for seeing me, caring for me and working with my tendency to let a little chaos completely stress me out.

Last Sunday Pastor Rob taught from Isaiah 40- about how HUGE God is:
"Who else has held the oceans in his hand? Who has measured off the heavens with his fingers? Who else knows the weight of the earth or has weighed the mountains and hills on a scale? Who is able to advise the Spirit of the LORD? Who knows enough to give him advice or teach him? Has the LORD ever needed anyone’s advice? Does he need instruction about what is good? Did someone teach him what is right or show him the path of justice?  No, for all the nations of the world are but a drop in the bucket. They are nothing more than dust on the scales. He picks up the whole earth as though it were a grain of sand." -Isaiah 40:12-15

And the coolest thing about how huge He is, is how he cares so deeply for us.  He sees even my most trivial of trials:
"Have you never heard or understood?  Don't you know that the LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth?  He never grows faint or weary.  No one can measure the depths of his understanding.  He gives power to those who are tired and worn out; he offers strength to the weak.  Even youths will become exhausted, and young men will give up.  But those who wait on the LORD will find new strength.  They will fly high on wings like eagles.  They will run and not grow weary.  They will walk and not faint." -Isaiah 40:28-31

His majesty is far beyond what we could even begin to comprehend, yet He cares so deeply... even though our life is but a vapor, a fading flower! 
"The grass withers, and the flowers fade beneath the breath of the LORD.  And so it is with people.  The grass withers, and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever." -Isaiah 40:7-8

After my morning, I sat down to read where I left of yesterday.  Here is part of what was before me:
"Your unfailing love, O LORD, is as vast as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds.  Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the ocean depths.  You care for people and animals alike, O LORD.  How precious is your unfailing love, O God!  All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings.  You feed them from the abundance of your own house, letting them drink from your rivers of delight.  For you are the fountain of life, the light by which we see." Psalm 36:5-9 

Then this:
"LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be.  Remind me that my days are numbered, and that my life is fleeing away.  My life is no longer than the width of my hand.  An entire lifetime is just a moment to you; human existence is but a breath." -Psalm 39: 4-5

Wow.  Life is so short, yet the Almighty God of the universe cares for me.  May the things I dedicate my time on earth to be pleasing to Him.  May the way I handle a chaotic morning with the gifts He blessed me with be glorifying to Him because He has done SO much for me and loves me with a boundless love! 

God brought comfort, love, joy and peace into my heart this morning.  He met me. Reminded me of how big He is and how much He cares about my mundane daily tasks.  And then speaking of mundane, He reminded me of a picture I have in our kitchen.  A friend gave this to me: 

She also has this verse framed in her kitchen.  It reads: 
"Where no oxen are, the trough is clean.  But much increase comes by the strength of an ox."  -Proverbs 14:4 

God is so good!  And His everlasting Word is honey to my soul.

Noah!

Today is the 6th, so I'm gonna share a little about Noah.  He's an interesting one, that's for sure.  I wonder what the Lord has planned for this boy because he probably receives more prayer than any of our other children!  Lately he does this helpless act when we ask him to do things:  doesn't know how to wash his hands, doesn't know how to put his pants on, can't reach his dresser drawers, can't feed himself, or can't stand up because his "legs won't move."  This boy can make my blood boil, but we sure do love him!

The videos I posted is of him playing with his toys- imaginary play, what he loves best.  The picture is of Noah during our school time.  We were working on letters, and something clicked with my thinking- combine his favorite thing with what I'm teaching him!  We brought his animals out and talked about what letter each one started with and the sound it makes.  It was great!  Just got to get into that crazy brain of his!!  :) 

skit

Here's the skit they did at the end of Pure Rebellion.  SO POWERFUL!

Home

I am in a season of staying home... like a lot!  At my shower, my friend, Dana, said she went through this same season when her four boys were little.  It was encouraging to hear her share about the same things I'm feeling.  Things like missing out on the Women's Bible Study (this is the first year I'm not going) or Women's retreats (this is the second year in a row I didn't get to go).  Also, the feeling like I'm missing out on developing new friendships or even keeping up with the existing ones!  Having four little ones is intense work!  At times (lots of times) it can be a constant die-to-yourself kind of job- dealing with never ending messes, snotty noses, whining, fighting, complaining, potty issues, wild behavior, disrespectful attitudes, temper tantrums, etc, etc, etc.  I never thought a simple morning shower would be such coveted "me time".  I'm limited in where I can go with my big, busy brood of blue-eyed boys.  :)  There are times when this can feel so discouraging, but if I'm smart enough to remember that I'm raising up men over here... men that (Lord willing) will be strong in their faith, servants at their church, hard working providers, leading their families in the LORD, men that will serve the LORD with their whole hearts for all of their days... if I can remember that, then it makes my slight inconveniences so well worth it.  

"And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart." -Gal. 6:9

As I daily pray for the Spirit to produce good fruit in their lives:  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control; I see that my own life needs so, so, so much work in these areas.  If my boys do, indeed, produce these fruits in their lives it is only by God's grace because I am constantly confronted with my own sin and in need of the Spirit to transform me.  To take my heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh. 

"The LORD hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles.  The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; He rescues those whose spirits are crushed." - Psalm 34:17-18