Our Inspired Journey

Ryder continues to grow taller, wiser and funnier by the day! He is an incredible older brother with a mixture of his father's patience and his mother's passion which don't always blend well (especially when toys need to be shared!), but make for a very compassionate, caring, and fun brother and son! He still loves riding his bike and has just started having some success without training wheels :) After waking up each morning, he immediately asks me what we're doing that day...just like my mom said I used to ask as well when I was younger! If it's raining or too cold to go outside to play that day, he has just started to like sitting at his little table and writing words...any words he dreams up that usually include the names of everyone in our family and then rhyming words he likes to say. It's been so neat to see that he can sit there for a while now and be creative, exploring his own thoughts without my input. Here's a picture of Ryder with "Super Why," a character from a PBS show he watches who visited our library a few weeks ago! John said he was so brave, walked right up to take his picture with his "reading" friend :)

Almost every night, we put Ryder to sleep and the light goes on a few minutes later. I think it may be time to end his afternoon naps but I'm not ready to let go of my alone time in the middle of the day yet! Anyway...he's rarely tired at 8pm when bedtime falls upon our household, so since Cole is still falling asleep in the pack n' play in our room, we sometimes let Ryder "wind down" by reading a book in his bed until we come to turn out the light later. Recently though, he has decided to spend that time picking out clothes for him and Cole for the next day. Not only does he chose tops and bottoms for them both to wear, but he also lays out underwear and socks for himself and a diaper and socks for Cole! (Hey...he does a good job! I'm not complaining!) The cutest part of the whole thing is the way he folds each item of clothing up (really well!) and puts in on the "Sit and Spin" toy in their room. So by the time Ryder goes to sleep there are two little piles of clothes ready in his room for the next morning...one for him and one for his brother...so helpful! :) Here's him running at the park with his favorite brother now...

John and I have tried to be better about writing down the funny or meaningful things he says since they happen ALL the time and usually we're too busy laughing or in awe of the depth of what he said to remember to write it down! Here are a few I do remember... (there are no typos...I'm writing it just how he says it :)

"Mom...when you dream, a big cloud comes up and shows a picture you dreaming about."

"When you die you can see Jesus or you can see Him when He comes back...You don't know which one comes first..you don't know, you just don't know!"

"God created the heavens and the earth. Generous 1:1"

He was wearing something silly and John asked him why he was wearing that...he said, "I'm trying new things..."

In the following video, he's saying Colossians 2:13..the verse he learned last at Rainbows class at church...my favorite part is that immediately afterward, he wants to watch it back...this is exactly what I used to do as a little girl! I have seen many home videos of myself that ended the same way!

Ry and I are getting to connect on a lot of neat levels now that make me realize how much I love this next stage he's in. Amidst all the fun, laughing, wrestling, building and gardening (or really, weeding!) we like to do together, I think my favorite moments are the ones when he says something that allows me to catch a glimpse into his heart and understanding of who God is to him at the age of 3. Twice this week after he fell off his bike, he ran up to me crying and said through frantic tears.."Mom, please pray for me!" as he collapsed in my lap. I prayed for him that God would heal his owies because we believe He can, and watched as his tense little body seemed to calm with the knowledge that with God, it would all be okay. Later that night I winced while bathing the boys since a paper cut I had on my hand began to hurt in the hot water. I stood up and washed it in the sink and Ryder asked, "You have an owie too Mom?" Not paying much attention, I responded nonchalantly, "Yeah Ry..." Then I saw out of the corner of my eye, my 3 year old boy fold his hands and pray quietly and confidently, "God, PLEASE heal mom's owie...Amen."

It's in moments like these when I grow thankful, realizing that God did not just give me children so I could care for them...but so that I could see His face more clearly in their eyes, hear His passion for me more richly through their voices and feel His love for me more deeply as their little arms run to embrace me. It is for no other reason than the grace of God that my children respond to his call to love in the way they do. For all the times my impatience has won out, I am reminded again and again that it is not through any perfect plan or effort of my own that my children will see Jesus. Thank goodness that we have a Savior to save us from ourselves...He truly is miracle-working God still today, to take sinners like us and show us His goodness through the way he redeems even the lives of our sweet, impulsive, dirt-loving children! Thank you Jesus for the way you move...may we be receptive to your voice today...especially when it's spoken through the most unlikely source...