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

 Josiah took out his braids today...well, his friend Charlie took them out.  His natural hair is growing long and gorgeous....and we are hoping that tomorrow our Nisha will come and style it again.  Charlie also wants his hair braided...and his sister Aaliyah.  Our Nisha is gifted and talented and passionate about braiding and styling and growing healthy black hair.  She is invaluable to me....not just because she braids but because I love her as a person.  Her talent to do my kids hair is extra.....hair is a big deal in black community....as a white mom of black kids its also a big deal.   In case you don't know....here is a bit of info.  When we decided to adopt a child and opened our profile to any race of child we were instructed to do some learning.  Their is a really good book called  A Hair Story.  I used to own it but I maybe loaned it out....find it and read it if you can.  There is also a really good documentary ...

 I facilitate a parenting course called Circle of Security.  It's pretty amazing and I love walking parents through the 8 sessions and seeing how it unpacks all of the good things.  One of the sessions addresses babies and small kids having feelings and allowing them to have those feelings without pushing them to a feeling that we as caregivers are more comfortable with.  For example, baby is crying and sad about something and caregiver tries to cheer baby up and "fix it" with a toy or something....rather than just being with the baby while they are sad and being patient until the feeling passes.   As a culture, we suck at this.  Myself included.   When we force children to change their feeling before they are ready to move on, we basically tell them that what they feel is wrong and should change.....and force the feeling or emotion we expect to replace it. I can't prove it but I believe this is part of what is making our kids anxious and dys...

 Apparently they are just a nocturnal form of beetles...and no one really gets excited about beetles.  Fireflies, however, feel magical.  Where I live, they show up the end of June/beginning of July and last just a few weeks.  If you are driving at night, they light up the ditches.  If you are intentional and go outside at sunset they dance in the backyard and coax you to try to catch them....and this only lasts an hour or so a night because once the sun goes down and nighttime falls, they disappear....magical.       Two nights ago I introduced the extra Kredits to fireflies....they were blown away, excited, squealing and a bit apprehensive.  They were each given a jar and started to chase them and catch them.  Once contained they shook the jar to light them up despite my warning that they would harm the little critters.  We came inside and they agreed to open the lids of the jars of fireflies so they could fly away. ...