He is Greater.....John 3:30 says He must become greater, I must become less"

 Extra kredit had his first day of school ever today.  He was so excited to go.....was counting sleeps for a week or more until today came.  He was up and ready before 7am and the bus wouldn't come until 7:45.  He was brave and he was ready.  I washed dishes today at school so I was able to check in at lunchtime and he said he was doing great and his teacher said he was doing great.  Great!  Great.  It was all great until bedtime where a meltdown started and continued for over an hour and a half regarding whether to have a shower or not and then in bed, wishing he had had a shower and then not wanting to go to school ever again because school was scary and he just wants me.......and Roger and I both sat in the bedroom a long time while he cried and I eventually left the room and Roger stayed while he cried some more because he really just needed to cry out everything he had held in all of his great, great day long.  I need this kiddo to wake ...

 We all knew this one was coming.....and we are now to the firstborn child of our family.  I don't usually know exactly what I will write until I start writing.  You guys all know how I feel about Claire.  I've shared some of my thoughts on her before.....Two years ago she left for the first time to live at college.  Man that was a hard day for me.  I have ached for other friends these past days who have sent their first child to college......know this friends:  It gets easier.  Year 2 was easier and more familiar.....until Covid hit and they all came home early.   Claire is starting her third year at Dordt University.  She is one of the captains of the dance team and she is a social work major.  She has a work study for the Social Work department heads, and she teaches dance at the local dance studio.  She's also planning a wedding...... She and Jonah will get married January 2 of 2021 and then they will finish up their 4...

 Isaac Earl was born in the spring of 2002, right after 911.  I was pregnant with him when that happened.  I had a difficult pregnancy with him and there was a threat that he could be lost prenatally the first half of the pregnancy.  At 9 weeks gestation, I went to a church service and knelt at an alter after an alter call....and I was bleeding and the doctors had told me that for now I had a viable fetus but the future was not gauranteed.  I knelt at that alter and I gave him to the Lord.  He was not yet Isaac...he was just a baby I was carrying.  I told God this was his child and asked him if I could please carry and raise him.  I got a yes.   Isaac was a hard baby.  He cried and fussed and didn't sleep and wanted to nurse 24/7 and he was exhausting.  He was spitty and he was crabby....and I mothered him every minute of every hour of every day.  Eventually he grew out of that stage and became a very brave and boistrous t...

 You know all those theories and descriptions of siblings according to birth order?  They seem to ring pretty true in our house.  Jeremiah is the middle child.....literally smack dab in the middle.  According to some sources (on the internet of course) middle children have strong friendships and relationships.  Jeremiah has had the same friends since pre-school.  Middles are the peacekeepers.  Definitely true here.  Earlier this week I was hysterical about something that one of the younger kids had done and was shreiking and maybe even yelling......and he came in the house on his lunch break and saw what had happened and surveyed the situation and my response.....and he started to laugh.  Eyebrows raised, weird look on his face.....laughing.  At me.  And at said child.  Middles go with the flow rather than being stubborn....Also true.  They are open and willing to try new things.  Jeremiah will eat absolutely anything...

 Today is Precious Maryn's birthday.  She is 11.  Last night when I tucked her into bed and prayed for her, I prayed for her birth mom, that wherever she is, if she was thinking about the night she went into labor with Precious, and about her birthday, that the Lord would bless her.  I prayed that she would have joy and peace in Jesus.  She gave us an amazing gift when she chose us to be Precious' parents 11 years ago.   There was no way I could have known what our lives would look like 11 years ago when we were matched with this beautiful baby girl.  God would reveal to us over and over again, his providence, his purpose, his plan and his perfect love in all of the ways we were ill-equipped, unprepared, and overwhelmed.  She is a blessing and she is challenging me to dig deep, lean in to God every day, and strive to be a better version of myself in all things.  Precious is special.   Precious is a really good friend.  She...

 Josiah is the fifth kid in birth order here.  Interestingly, if he had remained in his birth family, he was also the 5th child of his birth mom.  That's kind of cool, I think.  Josiah is 7. He is growing into this really cool human that is a perfect blend of competent and mature and trustworthy, mixed in with sweet and tender and silly.  Yesterday he and and I took a walk with the dog.  It was hot and muggy.  I was walking the dog and he was breezing ahead on his segway he got for his 7th birthday.  We passed by the city pool.  Later he asked if he could go to the pool.  It was mid-afternoon but I said ok, if you think you can manage by yourself.  He took one of the free admission tokens on our counter that we were given by someone, hopped on his bike, biked the few blocks over there, stayed a few hours and biked home all by himself.  That's a perk of a small town, by the way.  He also said he wanted to learn to cook so h...

 I spent some time early in the morning yesterday with God.  I read Matthew 7:15-20.  "Watch out for false prophets.  They come to you in sheeps clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.  By their fruit you will recoognize them.  Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?  Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.  every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  thus, by their fruit you will recognize them."    It's so hard right now to know where the true and false prophets are.  The news is alarming and confusing.  Social media is polarizing.....so many opinions and so much drama and so much anger and hatred and angst.  It is a presidential election year which makes everything even crazier.....its hard to know who to trust.  I've been talkin...