the horrors of tragedy affect everyone

I've been thinking a lot about the horrors surrounding the Colorado shooting just a few days ago. So many people have been affected in so many different ways. Right when I think, "I need to focus my prayers on them," someone else pops into mind.

What about the employees who saw this unfold? They are working day after day in the place where people were murdered (if not this week, then at some point in the future).

What about the murderer's parents and family? What kind of crazy emotions are they experiencing?

What about every person who knew the victims or people affected in some way? What about the people who are having flashbacks because of a past tragedy that affected them? Or the people who are still in the hospital?

This is a time when we need to pull together as a nation and pray for strength for everyone involved. A trial of the murderer will happen (he desperately needs the Lord!). Funerals will happen. Lives will need to be put back together - both in the hospital and at home. And people are needed to make all these things happen.

Two words come to mind when thinking about the part I can play: support and prayer.

Support people in this situation. Support good. Support right. Support help. Support ... even in your arguments and comments and "sharing" of things online.

Pray over people every time you think of them.

And... in case this blog would be seen by anyone who lost a friend that day, here's a link to my blog on how to help a grieving friend. It's a little of what I've learned may help someone who is grieving. Perhaps something I say might help you help your friend/family member. Remember... their journey of grief will last much longer than the publicity surrounding the shootings. Even when you think of them in a few months or years, say a prayer for grace for them. They'll need it.

Blessings to you. God is still on the throne and He is working to be with everyone affected by this tragedy. He still reigns in this world.

our growing boy

It's so much fun to watch Brayden grow and learn this lovely thing called life. He's figuring out so much stuff every day and as everyone knows they grow so much in their first year! :-)

A few of his latest milestones....

1. He rolls every which way! He's well on his way to crawling and/or walking... whichever he decides to do first! He actually gets on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth. You can tell he's like, I know what to do, but can't quite do it all the way! I love watching him roll around and the determination he gets in his eyes when he sees something he wants. He will first reach and see how far his arms go. If he determines he can't get it with his arms and fingers (I love the fingers that go back and forth trying to pull something toward him), his head will swing into motion to get him to roll closer to the object or sometimes his feet. Pretty funny! Love watching him think through life.

2. He jabbers. I could have sworn one of the sounds he made recently mimicked "Mom." :-) He jabbers the most when he's tired. It's adorable. It's starting to sound like he's making sense in his own head and trying to tell us something specific - I'm sure he is! I love it!

3. He can put himself to sleep. This one is a process and doesn't always happen, but over the past week he's done amazing at putting himself to sleep. I'm grateful because I don't get mentally or physically exhausted holding him making sure he's sleeping before I do other things. I can give him his quiet time in his room and eventually he'll fall asleep. I know we'll probably have more sleeping streaks in the future of his sleeping/not sleeping/needing us to put him to sleep, etc. but I'm grateful this milestone has been reached.

4. He's six months old! Always seems like a big deal when they get through half a year, huh?

5. He eats solid food. I love my baby food processor (thanks to some of my family members who got it for me!) ... I use it to make pureed veggies for him. Then I have the dishes where I can freeze little portions for later. Love the ease of it. And Brayden loves eating... when the food is cold or its a new flavor, he always gets a super funny look on his face after the first  bite. He's already wanting to hold the spoon on his own.

That's a quick baby update that I'm journaling mainly for me, but in case you're interested, there you go! :)

Oh and we took his six month pictures already and I'm sure I'll post some when I get them... but here's a preview.

out of adversity comes...

Out of adversity comes _____________. For everyone the answer is different. There are also probably many answers for everyone.

For me, one of the things I've learned over the past five years is the importance of praying for people. When people have prayer requests, I want to--even need to--really, truly take time to lift them before the Father. I pray more for others that I ever did five+ years ago because I understand that people truly need others around them during difficulty to support them in prayer. When you are in the middle of a situation, emotions get tangled up and it's hard to see straight enough to even form a prayer. That's why people outside of the situation praying intently and purposely about a situation is vital.

So yeah. I wish my brother was here and my son was here, but in a sense, every day I'm learning how to benefit from the tragedies I've faced (and do and will face). With God's grace empowering me, I will learn from every situation I face and turn it into overcoming good for the kingdom of God. Period.

(P.S. Those are Brian's daughters in the picture from a few years ago. Love it.) 

problems or solutions?

Hi there! I apologize if any of you have been waiting on pins and needles for my next post! ;-) Wifehood, motherhood, working, housework, and napping when I can keep me busy. Plus my laptop is on the fritz.... fun, fun!

So much could be said about Brayden. He's growing fast, as all babies do. It's pretty clear, he has one thing on his mind: moving. He knows he should move forward and he is very intent and moving as quickly as he can figure out how to do it! He's making good progress... so here's for my days being thrown into another "tizzy" when he starts booking it around the house very soon!

Quick non-Brayden story that I've been pondering recently - Erik and I came downstairs one morning a week or so ago and we immediately noticed our sprinklers were on out back. We were like, "What?!?" We live in a townhome, and the sprinklers are on an automatic, nightly schedule. Translated: they don't come on in the mornings.

So pretty much we were both thinking, "Really? Another problem to deal with?"

Ten minutes later, we opened the front door as Erik headed to work. Crouched down at the edge of our driveway looking at something on the ground was a strange man. I was taken back at first, then Erik commented, "Ahhh, that's why the sprinklers were on." 

One of our sprinklers out front had been broken for a few weeks and we had let the association know about it. That happened to be the morning he was fixing it and he had to turn on the sprinklers in order to figure out which sprinkler was broken!

All that to say... I immediately realized that what I saw as a potential problem wasn't a problem at all. It was a solution for a different situation in my life. I just couldn't see it because of my perspective.

Sometimes we choose to have a single perspective in life; other times we are unable to have a different perspective. Our house only has windows on the back side on the first level. That means Erik and I couldn't have seen that someone was working on the sprinklers until we walked out the front door. That's when our perspective changed and we saw the truth of the situation.

So remember that next time you face a problem, perhaps it's actually a solution in disguise!