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!

Ball popper woes

Look at my brave little boy. He is overcoming his fear of the dreaded ball popper! For Christmas, Daniel received the ball popper shown above. We brought it home, added batteries, and turned it on. Daniel immediately started crying and shaking. I had never seen him frightened like that before, so it surprised me. However, the ball popper kind of freaks me out too. When turned on, it emits a vacuum noise that slowly grows louder and louder. Circus music eerily plays in the background too. And then balls suddenly start shooting out of the top. Yep, definitely scary.
Anyway, we immediately turned off the toy and packed it away in his closet. About a week later, I had left the closet door open, and Daniel spied the ball popper. Instead of becoming upset, it was like he was irresistibly drawn to it. At first he just stood at the door of the closet and stared at it. Then, he became braver and touched it. A few minutes later, he had actually pulled it off the shelf and was inspecting it on the floor. I came and sat with him as he gave it a thorough going over. He even tried to turn it on! So, I sat him on my lap and flipped the switch. As the vacuum noise grew, I could feel Daniel tensing up in my arms. At his first cry, I switched the thing off and whisked it away. However, the next day, he was back after it again. So, we have settled into a nice arrangement. We never turn it on, but we give him the balls to put into the top, and he watches them roll down the shoot. It has actually become his favorite pastime.
Oh, my baby boy! He keeps us laughing and exhausted!

Praises!

This morning I fired up the iTunes and began listening to some praise music. "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" was one of the first songs to play:

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

My heart was overwhelmed by the blessings God has poured on us this past year. What undeserved mercies and love He lavishes on His children. Here are some of our family's significant events from 2008:

February: Our precious son Daniel Scott was born, and our lives completely changed forever! He is the source of so much joy and laughter. Praise the Lord!


March: Brian's grandmother passed away. We thank the Lord for her life and her positive influence on her family. Brian has many fond memories of his grandparents, and they did much to shape him into the person he is today. During March, my grandfather also had open heart surgery. He has recovered completely and is back to his normal activities.

Summer: Brian's position changed at work. He now works primarily in the sales department, and we are blessed that he has a company truck to drive back and forth.


September: Daniel was baptized! The service was blessed, and our little man did incredibly well in front of the congregation. He was almost jovial!


November: We finally discovered what was causing Daniel's frequent hive outbreaks. He is allergic to peanuts and eggs, and also has mild allergies to milk and dogs. We continue to pray that he outgrows all of these allergies with time.

December: We celebrated our first Christmas with Daniel. Isn't the Santa suit adorable?