My friend, Sara, tagged me quite a while ago. This is a fun one...
The rules:
Go to your picture file on your computer.
Pull up the 4th folder.
Pull up the 4th photo.
Tell us about it.
This was taken about 4 or so hours before we headed to the hospital to have Jonas. I didn't know at the time that I was in labor. It is a bit of an embarrassing photo because I have what we affectionately call "my crazy eyes" in this picture.
of a year...that is how old our sweet boy is. We are a little late in posting, but Jonas turned 6 months old on November 20. He brings us so much joy each and every day. Here are a few things about Jonas in the past month...
- he can now sit very well - so so close to crawling - scoots and rolls to get where he wants to go - so much more vocal. he loves to carry on a conversation - eats rice cereal better than last month. still no veggies since we are still trying to get the hang of the spoon - weighs about 15 lbs. 4 oz. and 27 inches long - bottom two teeth have broken through - jonas has such a fun personality. he really likes to be around people - he even yell when we leave the room. he is beginning to notice when we aren't around, and often looks for us when we are in a group of people.
Sarah and I went to the 50th "Carol of Lights" this year... an annual lighting ceremony on the Texas Tech campus. Every year there is a soloist that sings O Holy Night. I love that song. Not like, LOVE.
O Holy Night is by FAR my favorite Christmas song. It absolutely captures the majesty and reverence of the event. I am absolutely blown away every time I hear it. When it was being sung at the Carol of Lights, one line in particular stuck in my head, and after reading a friend's blog who quoted the song, I got to thinking more about that line. The line is " 'Til he appeared and the soul felt it's worth. " Im not sure if the proper version is "the soul felt it's worth" or the soul felt His worth". Both ways are incredibly profound.
" 'Till he appeared and the soul felt it's worth"...what a deep statement about what that baby, the Christ, brings to us...worth. To try and earn worth any other way or place is "meaningless, a chasing after the sun." In this Christmas act we see and feel how much we are really worth to God!
"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him." - I never thought of The Prodigal Son as a metaphor for the Christmas story, but it is! That baby is the result of God's compassion, it was God's way of throwing caution to the wind, picking up his cloak and running to us as we lay 'in sin and error pining'.
noun: the act of binding yourself (intellectually or emotionally) to a course of action.
On November 16, Paul and I participated in our church's baby dedication. The definition above accurately describes how we have committed to raise Jonas...we've bound ourselves to raising him to be someone who chooses to follow Jesus with his whole heart. And, man, our prayer everyday is that Jonas would choose that course of action.
Deciding to participate in the dedication was hard for us for a few reasons. One being that our families live so far away and couldn't be with us. They were with us in spirit that day. It was fun for us to have our small group stand with us and agree to come along side of us as we parent Jonas. Another reason it was hard for us was because we were acknowledging Jonas as God's. That is hard for me at times...to know that ultimately Jonas isn't mine.
I apologize for the blog hiatus...it hasn't been intentional. Because I am so tired and am blogging in the middle of calming an extremely tired and fussy baby as well as doing laundry, list format will have to do...
- Jonas turned 6 months old on November 20. Pictures and stats to come. But, I will say this - we love him more with each passing day. He is our joy and delight,
- We travelled to Houston to be with my family for Thanksgiving. That was a R-E-A-L-L-Y long trip. No one told me to add about 1.5 hours when driving with an infant.
- We had tons of fun being with family, seeing friends, shopping, going to the zoo and just being on vacation...eating way too much food - there goes my diet!
- We are looking forward to Christmas. I am soooo excited to decorate our tree on Thursday night.
Pictures to come. I promise. OK, gotta change the laundry.
We are Paul, Sarah and Jonas...welcome to our lives. This is just a small effort to capture and share anything from the mundane to the significant. So, enjoy!
