Tyler is getting pushy, so here’s my latest report...
Dylan just celebrated her 4th birthday on March the 20th. She enjoyed time spent with her friends at a Cowgirl themed birthday party. We had a blast making the cake, grilling hotdogs, visiting with friends and family, having Stick Horse races and playing “Pin the Tail on the Donkey.” Dylan had lots of aspirations about turning four. For the entire month leading up to her birthday, she began most sentences with, “When I’m four...” These were thoughts on reading more, riding her big girl bike, etc, etc... Apparently, the pressure came to be too much on her, now she has been telling me she just wants to be three again. The girl is her own person, no doubt. I do see both Jim and I in her, but there are times when she does and says things and people ask, “Where does she get that?” and I just have to shrug my shoulders because, I have no idea! She is quite the comedian and has recently taken up “Knock-Knock” jokes. Some of them don’t have a punch line that makes any sense, but some of them she’s gotten down! She is still working on reading and is doing very well. She is beginning to recognize words without sounding them out and last night at church she read 1 John 4:19 to me. That is why we are teaching her to read, so that she may utilize the treasure that is God’s Word. I was so happy to see that accomplishment take place. I was publicly educated and I have nothing to say but I loved my teachers, well most of them, they taught me to read, they taught me to love to learn and for the most part, they had a positive impact on me-but none of them taught me the Gospel; but I am so glad that I was the one to teach Dylan to read and teach her a lot of other things and that her main focus on learning will be to the glory of God. I can teach her to read the bible, I can teach her about science, using creation, and most importantly, I get to be the one that is with her those eight hours a day! Besides Jim, she is my best friend and I am so glad God has blessed me with her!
Chester and Randall fighting to the finish!
Dylan and Daddy racing
Dylan and Lydia racing with tongues waggin'
Our Wild Mustang Cake
Our gift to Dylan was a swing in the tree in our back yard... needless to say, she loves it!
If her smile seems a little stressed, it is because she was just disciplined for disobedience. Training up a child in the way she should go does not stop at their own birthday parties!
My little Hambone!
Jim and I have been led by God to begin to pray about the possibility of adopting a child or children, if He so chooses to allow us to do so. He has truly opened our hearts to caring for a child as our own. He has allowed us to see the great beauty of adoption and especially the beauty of the doctrine of adoption as we see in Scripture in regards to Salvation. The fact that God would take us in, love us as His own, make us heirs with Christ, give us a name when were were “once not a people” and make us “God’s people.” How could we not want to do that for a child of our own? We would desire your prayers in this area of our life. We do not want to step out ahead of God, and we desire His will and perfect timing in these things. We have discussed this with Dylan and helped her to understand that Mommy may not have a baby in her tummy but that God may still give her a brother or a sister. She has thus requested a brother AND a sister. We shall see! We just want to honor God in what James 1:27 says, “Pure and undefiled religion is this: caring for orphans and widows and keeping oneself unstained by the world.”
Beverly and I will be attending the “Children Desiring God 2009” conference in MN at the end of this month. I have never been, so I am greatly excited to be apart of that. I am hoping that God would use this to grow me in both my spiritual walk, but also in my teaching of Dylan and the children at church. I began last month to teach the children that are Dylan’s age on Wednesday nights at church. So far so good! I am teaching them about the attributes of God using Desiring God materials and I am also introducing catechism questions each week. We started catechizing Dylan when she was almost three and it has been a tremendous blessing to see her learn and grow as well as us learning along side her! We pray that God’s Holy Spirit would come one day to apply the truths she has learned to her little heart. We are also going through The Attributes of God by A.W. Pink as part of our family devotional time.
We started “Mentoring Men” and “Mentoring Women” classes a few months ago at church and that has been a tremendous blessing to our body already. I have seen the men grow and step up to the challenge of leading their homes and strengthening the body by growing in love and wisdom. May God be honored by strong men in the church! We ladies, as well, have learned a great deal about what it means to be woman. We certainly cannot look to society to teach us that, so we are ever thankful for God’s Word to direct our steps and light our path.
In other news, Dylan got pony! Her name is Sunny and all I can say is that Dylan has Papa wrapped around her finger! Here's a photo of Dylan and her new buddy...
Well, that is all I have to give right now, so I will close!
Love and Blessings,
