children – Page 5 – everything He gives

Lately

December 10, 2014 MarthaKimball2 Comments

So, life has been a little busy lately.

We are all sorts of tired over here, back in the midst of the beautiful crazy that a newborn brings. The holiday season is upon us, and two of my favorite little people have birthdays coming up the week of Christmas, too. It’s the best (and busiest) time of year!

We’ve been doing lots and lots of this lately:

This time around, I know how quickly that little newborn will morph into a toddler. How soon her little baby fuzz will fall off and these sleepy days will become wakeful (and more rest-less). I’m being more intentional this time around to just spend time holding and savoring this little one while she’s this little.

A few days after our littlest was born, Thanksgiving was upon us. Though we really probably shouldn’t have been out with her yet, we couldn’t resist the Thanksgiving feast with our sweet family nearby. (I told Brandon later, I truly don’t know anyone who cooks as well as my parents do. We often are treated to dinner at their house, and it is hands down better than any restaurant I’ve ever been to!)

One of our favorite Christmas traditions is finding a little local Christmas tree farm and chopping down our own tree (see last year’s endeavor here). Since I was just days out of the hospital, we didn’t feel like we could risk traipsing around with a newborn in December looking for a tree so we went to our favorite nursery nearby to pick it out. It was still fun! It is what you make it, right? 🙂

(the kids decorated their own tiny tree for their room)

It gets more and more fun every year to celebrate the Christmas season, building memories and our own little traditions and seeing these little ones come alive to the wonder of the season. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year!

I’d love to hear your favorite traditions and memories surrounding Christmas! Hope your holiday season is full with all the fun things that draw families together and make for a warm home, and full of what draws our hearts to Christ and to remember the beauty of His incarnation.

Learning about Prayer

November 4, 2014November 4, 2014 MarthaKimballLeave a comment

Lately this sweet little one has had a renewed interest in praying. For a while she hasn’t wanted to pray when we’ve asked her to, and we haven’t pushed it. Recently she’s been spontaneously praying throughout the day or asking to pray at meals or bed time. Her prayers are so sweet, so profound even though she has no intention of being profound. Often she asks the Lord to help her obey, thanks Him for the wonderful life He’s given us.

I recently received this child’s book to review and it seemed appropriate to dig into it this week with my daughter. It is part of an “interactive, fun-filled series that uses a train locomotive theme as a method for teaching kids core Christian beliefs and principles.” Some of the other books in the series cover basic theological topics such as baptism, church, faith, grace, salvation, worship, etc. The series is inspired by the familiar scripture in Proverbs:

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Prov. 22:6).

Naturally, the book and the accompanying CD start off with the child’s song “Get on Board, Little Children.” We listened to the whole book on CD as we turned pages and then listened to many sweet children’s bible songs about prayer sung by a chorus of children.

My little one enjoyed the book but kept asking who the children were, what their names were. I think it was maybe difficult for her to connect with it since it wasn’t written in story form but more conceptually. I’m not sure what the target age is for this series but it would probably make a great homeschooling resource or supplement to bible study time with kids who are early elementary aged. The book ends with a simple quiz about the concepts covered. I thought it was a sweet, easy-to-use resource that we will return to. And we will definitely listen to the CD as well!

What strikes me is how naturally prayer comes to children. How they don’t try to dissect and understand prayer, but rather just talk with their heavenly Father, sharing the ramblings of their little hearts. How much we can learn from them about prayer!

* * * * *

Tyndale House Publishers sent me a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. My review is not required to be favorable, and the opinions expressed are my own.

Savoring These Two

October 30, 2014October 30, 2014 MarthaKimball1 Comment

So we are just one day away from wrapping up this 31 day series. Often throughout this past month, I have been reflecting on and just enjoying these two little lambs. They change and grow so quickly, and I don’t write down their little stages and idiosyncrasies often enough. It has been a sweet thing, just being a little family of four and seeing the friendship grow between these two. They are usually pretty inseparable and love to do most things together.

Noah is almost two. He is talking up a storm, and repeats a lot of what we say. He loves anything to do with trucks, tractors, airplanes, trains, and firetrucks. I love how when he sees something or wants to say something, it’s almost always directed at me. “A truck, momma!” “See a car, momma.” “All done, momma.” (Although in my weary moments, it can be exhausting, it is the sweetest thing ever to be the one he wants to share everything with. I hope it never changes.) He is just beginning to really love books, and now brings me books to read to him and says, “Gook, momma.” (He never used to sit still long enough.) His favorite is a board book we have that has 100 first words, and he wants to “read” it at least five times a day, which entails me having him find things in it or tell me the word for the picture. He loves “spiky hair” in the bath that Daddy gives him. Daddy whips it up into two spikes and he smacks it down, squealing and laughing. He loves music more than even Phoebe I think, and breaks out dancing as soon as we turn it on. His favorite songs to sing at night before bed are “Jesus” (Jesus loves me) and “Ka-kee-us” (Zacchaeus was a Wee Little Man) and “David” (Only a Boy Named David). When we ask him what he’s thankful for each night, it’s almost always “Jesus.” After his bath and jammies are on he comes running for me down the hall saying “momma, momma, momma” and then shows me his clean snuggly self and just jumps up and down around the room. When he’s thirsty he says, “water, me,” so I call him my little plant. Lately he loves to lay down and drive his cars slowly back and forth, staring closely at the wheels and looking at how they work. Yogurt is “whoa-gurt.” He comes up to me often out of the blue and says “I la lu tooo, momma.” He is obsessed with his blankie (“Dee-dee”) and always has to chew it. One of his happiest moments is when I say in the morning “Ok guys, shoes on.” He screams with arms in the air “Shoes on!” and runs downstairs for his shoes. He’s pretty shy with new people and other kids, but he’s starting to warm up more to others. He seems to be understanding that a baby is in my tummy and he sits on my lap, facing my tummy, poking it and talking to the baby. He’s starting to love saying hi to people when we’re out, realizing often people will talk back to him. He shoots his hand straight out like he’s jabbing them and says “Hey dare.” (Hey there).

Phoebe is almost four. She loves wearing dresses, and changing outfits at least ten times a day. Half they time she’s just running around half naked in between “costume” changes. She loves to dress up in her tutu’s, or be “the bride,” or “Laura (from Little House on the Prairie).” She could read books all day long if you would read to her. Pretty much, if you sit down for more than thirty seconds, she will run to your lap with a book for you to read to her. She loves to play with Noah probably more than he needs to play with her and is always scampering around to see what he’s up to. And often pestering him, though she usually doesn’t mean to. She loves to sing, often her own renditions of things like “If you’re happy, then you know it, clap your hands.” She loves being outside, jumping on the trampoline, riding her trike or scooter, playing at the park, and going for walks. She’s starting to be really interested in bugs and getting up close to examine them. She loves when you play Doctor with her (she usually only wants to be the patient). And she cannot wait to have another little baby in the house to hold and help mommie with.

I know that when baby girl comes, our “normal” will be thrown for a loop for a bit, but then we won’t be able to remember what it was like before she was a part of things. It’s good for me to find things to look forward to in the next season so that saying goodbye to this one is easier. It’ll be so fun to see Noah get to be the big brother. And to see what Phoebe is like with a sister we can dress up, a real, live doll.

As this month closes and we are almost all ready for baby girl to come, I’m looking forward to slowing down the busy rushing and just enjoy and snuggle on these two kiddos a whole lot.

Playing in the Leaves

October 18, 2014October 18, 2014 MarthaKimball2 Comments

Our Saturday began in the chilly cold dark, setting up for a yardsale in the dewey morning. I sort of despise doing yard sales, but making $300 when everything is priced below $5 is pretty awesome. We also were able to scout the neighborhood sale and found some great things for the kiddos.

Later in the afternoon, we took the kids to ride their new toys at a nearby park and when we were back home, I was chopping veggies for stir fry and could hear screams and giggling outside where the kids were with Daddy. Looking out the window, I see them raking a huge leaf pile and screaming and jumping in it.

Sometimes savoring the moment means dropping what you’re doing and running outside to join in the fun.

The Measure of Success

October 15, 2014October 15, 2014 MarthaKimball5 Comments

The day reaches its end, a good day, yet the weariness is still there. The pots and pans are scrubbed, leftovers tucked away. The children, too, are scrubbed and tucked away. Only the blowing wind, the rain pattering on the sill, the occasional rumble of thunder now.

How do we measure our days? How does my soul measure the fruitfulness of a day? These thoughts weigh on my mind as I turn on the faucet and let the hot water beat on my skin. The days end, a good day, yet I feel that I didn’t accomplish enough. I didn’t get to this or that. Pictures still wait to be hung on our walls here, piles of clutter still wait to be organized. For heaven’s sake, I have nothing ready for the baby coming in just a few weeks. I groan inwardly as I think of all that needs to be done. Hospital bags packed, baby clothes pulled out and washed and organized, freezer stocked with meals. Carving out and setting up a little space for this little life that is coming. My social media outlets are filling up with news and pictures of all my friends and family that were due ahead of us, each one welcoming a baby. Each a reminder that soon it will be our turn.

So much left to do, and my heart feels unprepared. So many people have given us words of woe about the transition from 2 to 3 children, and I groan every time. Really? So few encourage or speak words of strength. I need the borrowed strength right now, I think. It seems my preparations have been mostly around labor this time, trying to fight back the fears and worries of a repeat of what happened at Noah’s birth. {A baby in distress, taken from me right at birth due to swallowed meconium, while my body experienced its own trauma from a broken/separated pelvis and postpartum hemorrhage. Not to mention a very slow and complicated recovery.} How to prepare my heart and mind for the adjustments that are to come?

All I want to do is savor this season a little longer, this time as a family of four, before we transition and never pass this way again.

Then these words via Ann Voskamp’s blog today:

“The thing I know most about seasons — is that God made them to change. And it is in the passing through them, the move from one season to the next, that true beauty is brought forth.” {Laura Boggess}

It makes me think about labor, just one kind of passing from one season to the next. All that comes when that baby comes, all the unknowns and questions and uncertainties, all the newness all over again. I want to resist the change and the fears surrounding the unknowns. But true beauty is brought forth in the passing. The letting go, the welcoming what is to come, whatever it is. Trusting, surrendering to this wild and untamable yet good God who is most certainly more intent on my conformity to Christ than my comfort, my holiness rather than my happiness. {Why again is surrender so hard, so daily?}

And so I look back over the day.. what is the measure of my days, Lord? What is the measure of success? Is it every task crossed off the list? Is it what my hands can accomplish that makes me feel worthy, worthy of having been given another day breathing air? Why is this always what my soul comes back to? Like a dog returns to its vomit, why do I return over and over the stinking pile of guilt and shame? If I feel this way now, how will I feel in a few weeks when I am totally unable to lift a finger to accomplish much around here besides feeding, swaddling, changing a newborn? What do you say, Lord?

“When the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us not by works of righteousness that we have done but on the basis of His mercy, through the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us in full measure through Jesus Christ our Savior. And so, since we have been justified by His grace, we become heirs with the confident expectation of eternal life.” {Titus 3:4-7 NET}

The passage goes on to exhort the readers to good works, because of the example of the Good Work that Christ did for us, and because our good works are profitable for others. Ahh yes, this balance again. The Lord’s gentle grace whispered again:

“My child, it isn’t what you do that can ever attain worthiness. You cannot measure yourself or your days by the works of your hands. You must rest in what I have done for you, what I have accomplished, what I finished. I have made you worthy. And yet, yes, you must work, there is much work I have for you. The work of love, of likewise pouring out your life. The work of kindness and ministering grace and reconciliation to all that I put before you. The work of the mundane tasks and necessary preparations in each day. These things are the practical avenues through which you can show love. And of course, you fail and grow faint and weary. But I am your God, your Creator, the One who formed you. I remember that you are dust. Come to me, let me pour out grace afresh. Let me restore and renew.”

I think of the words I studied in the Gospels this morning: Come to me like a child. I watch my daughter dance amidst the mess of toys, the unpacked boxes, the unhung pictures, the scattered books. Unhindered, unhurried. Delighting in being delighted in. Lord, let me be the daughter who dances freely and lightly in the unforced rhythms of grace.

Help me to “be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, and to know the Messiah’s love that surpasses knowledge.” {Eph. 3:17-19} To measure the immeasurable love of Christ for me.

Fall at the Farm

October 8, 2014October 8, 2014 MarthaKimball1 Comment

October is simply the best month to live in North Carolina. We try to savor every minute of it before all the beauty and color falls from the trees and the long, cold winter comes upon us.

A couple weekends ago we visited our favorite local farm again, which is the most fun to do in the fall. There are hay rides, kiddie cart rides, apples + pumpkins, beehives and fresh cider being made, goats that wander in the barn above your head, rope + tire swings, pigs, chicks, turkeys, a corn maze, a creek to play in, and a quaint little farm store to buy all the lovely things the farm produces. And little cider pops for 50 cents! Recently, we saw a Groupon for a free ticket to the farm so we planned to go when my husband’s parents would be in town and take the kids.

My pictures from the day are sort of haphazard, as was my brain that day, but we were busy enjoying the fun. Phoebe got to see her friend from dance, also named Phoebe, and they rode the kiddie cart ride together (the highlight of the day for Phoebe, outside of being with her Baba + Nain). I’ve written before about the farm here.

And, of course you know I stopped at the Flying Cloud Farm stand on the way back and bought some blooms!

Making Time for Family Time

September 24, 2014 MarthaKimball3 Comments

A couple weeks ago, Brandon suggested that we take the kids to a local little wildlife park called the Nature Center. Even though we had just moved and *really* needed to do some work unpacking, we decided we would all probably like each other more at the end of the day if we took a few hours and did something fun. {We tackled some unpacking once kids were down for naps after lunch.} I am so glad we did! It is always a treat to treat the kids, always a joy to see their joy in exploring their world. And we love taking advantage of whatever fun spots our little town offers.

{Sorry for some blurry pics. Brandon gave me a new lens for my birthday and I’ve been forcing myself to leave it on the camera full-time so I practice using it.}

^ Looking for turtles. ^

^ Checking out the raccoons. This guy. He is such a great hubby + dad. He carried my 500 lb hot pink bag, and often a kid or two. I’m really, really thankful him. He loves animals maybe more than the kids, so he’s like a big kid himself. ^

^ We loved all the lofted bridge trails in the trees! ^

^ Brandon took this one. It’s out of focus, but it’s the only one of kids + I from the day. ^

^ Timely spot for a little snack break and monkeying around to burn off some energy. Then, onto the bobcats + cougars. ^

^ The otters were Noah’s absolute FAVORITE. He was screaming and going nuts whenever they’d swim up to the glass. ^

P on the otter-slide and then to the petting farm to brush the goats.

He also loved this. So much. He has such a sweet little nurturing side. And then, of course, the tractor. Maybe that was his favorite.

^ Unfortunately, not a single shot capturing his glee was in focus. But at least I captured the spider web.. right?! ^

Work on the farm for the little farm hands:

For Phoebe the biggest highlights, though she was half-terrified, were seeing the wolfies and the bears. By the end of our couple of hours, the kids were exhausted. And they took GREAT naps. Win/win.

These kind of outings are so good for Brandon and I. To just make time for family time. There is the temptation to work without ceasing, as there is always, ALWAYS, work to be done. But it’s part of something we’re wrestling through and learning lately: recreating together in some form draws us back together after a week of busyness and the mundane. It “re-creates” us, in a sense, as a family. Choosing to set aside worry and stress and just remembering how to be like children, to enjoy this world that God has made, to look for glimpses of His character and His fingerprints on all He has made, and to set aside the rush and hurry to just slow and enjoy. It is part of what rests our souls and helps us see and remember how much we love each other and the gift God has given us in giving us LIFE, and life together.

Stopping the frenetic pace so we can savor. This is my goal lately!

when He gives storms

May 29, 2014 MarthaKimballLeave a comment

one of the things i love the most about living in these blue North Carolina mountains are the spring/summer storms. even though i have been struck by lightning before once while on a backpacking trip (yes, for real) i still L O V E a good thunderstorm. and i love the way these late-May days start gorgeous and calm and sunny, and build to a fierce afternoon thunderstorm. one of those storms is descending on us right now, as i type. yesterday was the same, and we had significant rainfall and hail. here’s a picture of our garden & driveway as the storm was petering out yesterday:

and yet, a few minutes after the storm moved on, the glorious sun came out and the water soaked into the earth, and we ran out in rain boots to play in the puddles (and check our garden for any damage). the kids loved it and the light was great for pictures, so i snapped away.

this girl and her love for dresses lately.. she is so adorable in this one