Day Journal 7

Today, and every Friday,

my daughters remind us to wear RED, to remember our soldiers.

They actually spent hours the other day making cute outfits with red to wear on Fridays.

Yesterday Anna was making cookies to take to some friends she is visiting this weekend. 

The children ate so many of the first batch of chocolate chip that she had to make another batch.  Then, when her big brother walked by, several more disappeared.

 Olivia is growing, finally. 

She still weighs less than 12 lbs at 3 1/2 months, making her quite petite.

She is definitely a people person...she loves to "talk" with her goos and aahhs.

Every baby surprises me anew at how remarkably expressive they are at such a young age,

or how a baby will look you intently in the eye for long lengths of time.

I never cease to be amazed at how magnificently we are made,

especially when watching a baby grow and learn and develop.

She rolled over for the first time today.

John put up the trampoline for the children. 

They have already been out bouncing on it for hours. 

Gabe chimes in, not wanting to be left out of anything the bigger children are doing...

"ME!  DUMP (jump) TOO!!"  

All this sunshine, intermittent with showers of rain and snow, or hail,

have me thinking of our garden,

planting, putting up the greenhouse frame, pouring over the Gurney's catalog

and planning on all the yummy things I'ld like to grow this year. 

God is so good and loving to have created all the wonderfully delicious foods

for our enjoyment and nourishment. 

He does love each of us so much more than we can possibly imagine.

I heard a man say that he used to think that our goal in raising children should be that they grow up loving and serving God, but now he has come to believe that our goal ought to be to instruct them to know how very much God loves them.

I think that may be. 

I would add, that His love is not as we love, or as we know of love, but it is supreme. 

He loves us..  Vastly.  Incomprehensively.  Unconditionally.

We can spend so much of our lives DOING,

that we miss the *being* with our Great Heavenly Father.  

When, if we spent more time being with Him, we wouldn't struggle so much with the doing, 

striving to get it all right.

"And I pray that you...may have power to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to the measure of all fullness of God."  Eph. 3:18

Blessings to you this weekend. 

May it be filled with the awe of God's love for you.