Belated, Beloved Estes Park

A few weeks ago, we made our first visit to Estes Park. Even better, we made it with the Broweleits! We rented a couple cozy cabins, got snowed on a bit, and (briefly) hiked around Rocky Mountain National Park.

 Gruntner loved it and did wonderfully, as always.

                           Snuggle time                     Me with Annabelle and Lizzy along the trail.

 At times driving along, it felt as though we were almost reaching into heaven.

The (biggest and littlest) girls!

 We'll definitely be back!

Swing That Hammer!

Our good friend, Alecia, in Boston asked us to compose a song about John Henry.  John Henry is one of her favorite tall tales.  The hammer-swingin', steel-drivin' man swung in a battle against the newest technology of the time - a steam driven engine.  It was man versus machine.  Who could tunnel faster through a mountainside?  As the legend goes, John swung that hammer so hard he died.  Abby and I wondered as we wrote, would John Henry be saddened at the sight of the 21st century?  Would he cringe at all of our technology and ease?  We have achieved great efficiencies and wonderful entertainments, but have we lost some simpler, and perhaps hidden, joys?

Hidden sacrifice

I was complaining to my family the other day about how many times Avery had woken up the night before and how long it took to shush her back to sleep. Woe is me, my sleep was disrupted! How tired I was! In the name of love...

I continued to remark that no one really knows about these seemingly endless nighttime sacrifices, unless I tell them, since they were all sleeping soundly. Think of all the moms out there and the sacrifices they make, night after night. Mothers, unite! We need one GIANT NAP!

Sure, there's some sacrifice there. Tim agreeingly quoted Dostoevsky, who wrote that it is much easier to willingly sacrifice oneself to some noble purpose where one will be remembered, but the hidden sacrifices, like day to day loving and serving of your family, are the hardest. 

OK. Outside myself for just one moment, I am reminded of the most humble sacrifice I can think of: Jesus. His death was nothing noble, valiant, sensible, or respected at the time. His life was a service to humanity, but who took notice? And although He had each of us in mind as He was giving Himself to die, we really don't fully, truly understand His love or our benefit from such a sacrifice.

Hello, conviction! Thank you Lord for your example. I've got a long way to go!

Deep

"The woman said to Him, 'Sir, You have nothing to draw [water] with, and the well is deep' " (John 4:11).

I recently read this devotion by Oswald Chambers and it resonated with me. So often we have misgivings about Jesus, although we won't always acknowledge it:

Have you ever said to yourself, "I am impressed with the wonderful truths of God's Word, but He can't really expect me to live up to that and work all those details into my life!" When it comes to confronting Jesus Christ on the basis of His qualities and abilities, our attitudes reflect religious superiority. We think His ideals are lofty and they impress us, but we believe He is not in touch with reality - that what He says cannot actually be done. Each of us thinks this about Jesus in one area of our life or another.

These doubts or misgivings about Jesus begin as we consider questions that divert our focus away from God. While we talk of our dealings with Him, others ask us, "Where are you going to get enough money to live? How will you live and who will take care of you?"  Or our misgivings begin within ourselves when we tell Jesus that our circumstances are just a little too difficult for Him. We say, "It's easy to say, 'Trust the Lord,' but a person has to live; and besides, Jesus has nothing with which to draw water - no means to be able to give us these things."

And beware of exhibiting religious deceit by saying, "Oh, I have no misgivings about Jesus, only misgivings about myself." If we are honest, we will admit that we never have misgivings or doubts about ourselves, because we know exactly what we are capable and incapable of doing. But we do have misgivings about Jesus. And our pride is hurt even at the thought that He can do what we can't.

My misgivings arise from the fact that I search within to find how He will do what He says. My doubts spring from the depths of my own inferiority.  If I detect these misgivings in myself, I should bring them into the light and confess them openly - "Lord, I have had misgivings about You. I have not believed in your abilities, but only in my own. And I have not believed in Your almighty power apart from my finite understanding of it."

Amen.

Big 5

The months keep flying by! Muncher is growing strong. She is pretty much "sleeping through the night" from about 7 to 7 (or 6), with a feeding around 10pm.  She can also fall asleep on her own anywhere, which she wonderfully demonstrated on our recent 6 day trip to Tacoma. She's the best baby EVER!

Avery, Action!

We've compiled bits and pieces of video over Avery's life so far. 

Here's our little screamer throughout her third month.

And here she is in month 4, already a Bubblemaster.

Finally: Insta-roller!

A Big Mess

I came up stairs last week to this scene, one of my own doing of course. Sometimes our own messes overwhelm us!  I can ignore it for awhile, but eventually it's like a big bomb that explodes in my face. This mess was eventually cleaned up, but there are and will be others. And bigger than my living room laundry tornado!

I'm thankful that I don't have to keep cleaning myself up over and over. David prayed, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit in me." (Psalm 51:10)  I can definitely do some maintaining, but it's God's hand and presence in me that gets it done. 

In light of so many recent natural disasters, I can't help but be reminded that this world is a big mess too. All around us, the world is (and has been for a long time) groaning for God's Kingdom rule (Romans 8:22). It makes me want to spend a lot of time on my knees.

I feel comfort on behalf of the suffering around me that God knows their experience and is close with them. He has suffered and mourned through his son Jesus, who was sent as a man on earth, ridiculed, rejected, injured, and killed. But he rose! Our suffering, pain, and sorrow is not final. We've been promised a rescue. Thank you, God.

Jesus comforted us, "I spoke to you so that you may have peace. In this world you will have tribulation. But take heart, for I have overcome the world." (John 16:33). This world can sure seem scary, powerful, and overwhelming. But God is bigger, and I'm with him.

Le Boeuf

Here it is: the finished product. Boeuf Bourguignon a la Julia Child. I don't know how or why anyone would want to cook this way on a daily basis, but it was fun for an afternoon! I can't say this is the best meal that ever hit my tongue, but it was pretty good beef stew. Just so much preparation! Every individual part had to be prepared a certain way before it all came together (as opposed to crock-potting or slow cooking everything together at once, which is probably what I would have done). Yet the aroma was AMAZING! In fact it still strongly lingers in the house today.

In a way, this is totally symbolic of the offerings prepared by the Israelites before the Lord at the Tabernacle. I've been reading in Exodus and Leviticus about these. God required Israel to make daily, weekly, monthly, and annual sacrifices to atone for their sin, but also to fellowship with him. The various offerings (sin, guilt, burnt, grain, drink, and peace) seemed ridiculously complicated, specific, and monotonous to do with all the individual required steps. But in completion, they brought such a joyful, sweet aroma to the Lord. Most importantly, they provided the Israelites with a clean slate before him.

The offerings symbolized acknowledgment and clearing of sin, God's continual love and provision, restoration to one another, the joy of surrender, and fellowship and reconciliation to God. Worth every step! But I am sure glad that God offered his son Jesus to be the final sacrifice once and for all, so we don't have to go through all that anymore! A perfect sacrifice. (No Boeuf Bourguignon every day!) What a deal.

Today, we have the opportunity as Paul writes in Philippians 2 to offer our lives poured out before the Lord in service to him and others. Just like the wine in last night's dinner totally enriched the flavor of the beef, and the drink offering enhanced the aroma of the sacrifice before Israel's God, our lives offered as poured out wine before God enhances our relationship with him and those around us. Our freewill sacrifice still pleases him - a soothing aroma. We can worship God and fellowship with him every day!

Like the verse from one of my favorite hymns:

Take my will, and make it Thine; it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is Thine own; it shall be Thy royal throne.
Take my love, my Lord, I pour at Thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself, and I will be ever, only, all for Thee.

Yes, please.

P.S. Speaking of beef, we're waiting to hear back from DU to see if Tim has been accepted into its religious studies Master's program for the Fall! Yikes!!

Butter and Other Fat Tuesday Reflections

Alright, it's time to take time to be more thoughtful. Instead of giving something up for Lent, I've decided to add something - a more intentional reflection on God's faithfulness to my daily routine. Yes, this means spending more time in his Word and devotions etc, but I'd also like to document the best highlights along the way. "Hello, blog!"

Hopefully this takes shape through a daily (?) post - sometimes simple, sometimes/likely lengthy and disorganized.  I apologize in advance, especially to anyone who's not much of a blog reader and will potentially feel waaaaay behind if you've only checked this blog on, say, a biweekly occasion at best. There will be no catching up for you for the next 40 days. So be freed from this pressure ahead of time!

Maybe, this is my way of engaging more in the world from home, and I admit I might be slightly inspired by Amy Adams and Meryl Streep (hence Julia Child's Beouf Bourguignon we're making for dinner tonight! By the way, how in the world did Julia (in Julia & Julia) not gain 40 pounds by cooking through Julia Child's cookbook in a year??), but hopefully by Easter I can look back and really, really see greater evidence of God's working in the lives of the Eyes.  Because He's always working, we just don't always take the best notice. As Julia would say, He is"the butter on my bread, the breath in my life."

 Join me if you like, or comment on the rich, creamy goodness of God in your own life:)

P.S. I had a delightful pre-Fat Tuesday dessert celebration last night that I'd urge anyone to try: Dark chocolate M&M's, crunched up graham crackers, half pistachio gelato, half Starbucks coffee ice cream, all in a nice, big bowl. Thank you, God. Anyone remember The Mix in Seattle's U District? In college we used to drive all the way from Tacoma and back just to go there before they closed at midnight. My favorite was raspberries and cookie dough mixed into sweet cream ice cream, in a waffle cone. Reminds me of Proverbs 4:18: "Taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him." Amen.

OK, I'm off to find me some Beouf.  Sounds perfect for this blustery day.

The start of snow on the roof outside our window.

Sew Cute (haha)

I've decided to take advantage of my mom's amazing seamstress abilities and my free time to learn how to sew. At least mend. I'm super thankful I can show my mom something cute and baby and have her make it on the spot. Check out these shoes she adapted from another pattern:

Anyway she taught me step 1: how to use a sewing machine. My first project was to sew a new pattern on an old pair of baby overalls. I almost did it all myself: the bottom cuffs and front pocket are mostly my effort! Then she can fix what I mess up:)

still working on our ab muscles.

So, stay tuned for future projects. Hopefully this is the kind of thing I can make advancements with and start bringing in the big bucks! JK. It's just a fun hobby.

Speaking of cuteness, Avery's sporting a mohawk these days: