Our hope

During these days of economic turmoil, it is easy to allow worry and fear to cloud our vision. But the Lord has given us some wonderful promises. Our hope is in Him...not financial security...not a new president...not this world.

But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8

I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread. Psalm 37:25

Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord. Trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. Psalm 37:3-5

Long time, no blog

Hi bloggy friends! Please forgive me for the long absence. I have been working toward two major goals these past few weeks. The first was to complete a work project that has been hanging over my head since August. I am almost DONE! The second goal was to wean Daniel. Praise the Lord, we have accomplished that one, which means I no longer have to avoid the foods he is allergic to. Welcome back milk, eggs, and nuts! Hello, cheese and butter! Yum-o! My prayer is that Daniel will outgrow these food allergies so that he too can enjoy such scrumtious fare!
Another reason for my blogging absence has to do with a camera malfunction. The cord that enables me to download photos to the computer stopped working. Brian borrowed one from work, so I finally got the birthday party photos off the camera. Here are some of my favorites.

The cake! It took my mom and me an entire afternoon to make it.
Thankfully, we were happy with the results!

Here comes the birthday cupcake!

The first bite!

Daniel and his daddy!

Daniel (making a funny face) and his mama!

Opening presents! Daniel had about 15 family members at his party.
Thank you all for the fun gifts!

One of my all-time favorite photos...my dad reading a book to Daniel.
They are good buds!

Promises from Proverbs

Have you ever read the book of Proverbs? And if you have, did you believe it? I mean, really believe it? I recently decided to study Proverbs, and I am amazed by the blessings promised to those who seek wisdom and follow God’s commands. Check out these verses. They just blow my mind!

Proverbs 1:33
Whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.

Proverbs 3:1-2
My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity.

Proverbs 3:9-10
Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.

Proverbs 3:13-18
Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who embrace her; those who lay hold of her will be blessed.

Now, I know enough to be cautious when people proclaim that following God brings wealth, health, and happiness. Sometimes, God allows us to experience hardship. However, I believe from the bottom of my heart that the above verses are true. Listening to God…keeping His commands… tithing… seeking wisdom…these actions bring blessing. I am praying for the courage to obey so that I can reap the fruits God has promised.

Sweet Tooth

It seems Daniel has inherited one of my less stellar traits. He loves sweets to the exclusion of all other foods. I offer him vegetables and meat at every single meal, but he always holds out for the fruit. He loves grapes, bananas, oranges...all good things, but I just wish he would eat some veggies too! His other favorite foods are baked beans and graham crackers...both fairly sweet items. Since Daniel is allergic to milk, eggs, and nuts, he cannot have much in the way of cookies. However, my mom made him (and me) some dairy-free, egg-free pumpkin raisin cookies recently. Notice how much Daniel is enjoying them in the photos below. At least pumpkin is a very healthy food. Maybe I will have to start slipping other vegetables into his cookies!

New little critter

Last year for Christmas, my parents gave us two bred Herefords. They each had a healthy calf in the spring, and now one of them recently had a second calf. Check out the photos of this little critter. Is it just me or is this calf smiling at the camera? The markings on its face are so funny. I think we will name it Smiley!

Smiley

Smiley and the mama

The birthday boy!

We had a wonderful time celebrating Daniel's first birthday on Thursday! I managed to document just about everything we did in photos. Here are some of my favorites!

Daniel waking up on his birthday morning!

Eating some breakfast

Playing with toys

Into town to meet Brian for lunch and visit the zoo!

Measuring Daniel's wingspan at the zoo

Enjoying his birthday dessert!

Playing with his new blocks

We are planning a big birthday shebang in another couple weeks with all of the grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. You are only one once, so you have to do lots of partying!

Remodel mess

We are in the middle of remodeling the kitchen/dining area. I use the term "we" loosely, since Brian is the one doing all of the work! However, I am left trying to care for a very busy little boy in the midst of a wrecked house. Remodeling the kitchen is different from all the other remodeling projects we have tackled. We have done two bedrooms, the office, and the master bath. With all of those rooms, we could close the door and keep the disaster area out of sight. Not so with the kitchen. You must go through our kitchen to get basically anywhere in the house. So, we regularly find ourselves tripping over power tools and painting paraphernalia and all sorts of other home repair stuff. Daniel does not understand why he can't check out all the "new" things crowding his space. In addition, cooking in the midst of the remodeling mess is not exactly fun. I keep reminding myself how wonderful it will be to have it done. To illustrate my point, see the photo below. Good bye, forty-year-old light fixture! Good riddance, dark paneling!