Last night Mara was in one of her wild-and-crazy moods and bonked Micah in the back of the head. Of course, being tired and cranky, he began crying hysterically as if mortally wounded. I don’t think Mara was being malicious, but she was definitely not being kind.
It was a chance to introduce Ephesians 4:32. So after an apology to Micah, a brother-sister hug, and a tissue for the little boy’s tears, Mara and I memorized the first few words of the verse together: “Be kind to one another. Ephesians 4:32.”
When Daniel came home, I asked Mara to tell Daddy the verse we learned today.
“Be KIND to Micah!” she quoted confidently. . . well, at least she got the idea.
And this morning, when explaining it to Daniel’s mother, Mara said, “‘Be kind to Micah’ — in Mommy’s BIBLE!”
Daniel’s mother laughed and said, “She learned the passage and its application.”
Category: General Family News
Presents from Florida!
Our whole family was sick during the holidays with the stomach flu and respiratory flu as well. Poor little Mara has had the worst of it! She first threw up back on New Year’s Eve, and she has been throwing up again this week Monday through Thursday, making it a difficult week for all of us.
Needless to say, our “schedule” has pretty much gone out the window, which is a little frustrating for a task-oriented person like me. In the middle of the week, we enjoyed an especially fun time, thanks to Aunt Mary in Florida, who sent Christmas presents a little late, but frankly at the perfect time for us!! 🙂 She sent gift cards for Daniel and me to Starbucks and my favorite Macaroni Grill!
For Mara, she sent an adorable pink sweater, with a brown-and-pink shirt, and pink corduroy pants. Of course, Mara wanted to try it on the moment she opened it! 
She was so excited when I sent her back to the box to see if there were any more presents.–There were!!
Aunt Mary sent her a book called “At the Park,” the perfect theme for my little girl! Mara loves books, so you can never go wrong giving her a book! 
Aunt Mary sent Pooh Bear and Tigger for Mara and Micah. I told Mara she could choose one and give the other to Micah. 
She chose Tigger and gave Pooh to Micah. Aunt Mary also sent navy blue fleece overalls with a puppy dog on the front and a blue-striped shirt for Micah. I decided to wait to try on his outfit, since he doesn’t get as excited about dressing up and he is drooling incessantly, since his first tooth came in this week and he’s working on another one.
Pooh Bear found a new home in Micah’s cradle.
Micah wasn’t so sure at first . . . But he warmed up to Pooh Bear quickly!
So we had a fun little diversion, amidst drinking Sierra Mist, cleaning throw-up off the floor, eating jello, and washing loads of clothes, blankets, crib sheets, and stuffed animals . . . Thank you, Aunt Mary!!!!!!!!!!! Here’s Mara wearing her new outfit and enjoying her presents.
No, We Didn’t Give a 7-Month-Old Soda!!!!
My Very Best Friend
It was a Monday. It felt like a Monday. The day began with so much potential for accomplishing the things I had written in my daytimer. But a teething 7-month-old who fussed all day long and a 2-year-old who couldn’t keep anything down interfered with my task list for the day.
In the midst of it all, two moments stand out.
We were listening to a children’s song “Jesus is my very best friend.” Mara loves music. She is always trying to sing along as best she can. (She doesn’t always get it. There’s another song called “Little by little, inch by inch. . .” talking about growing in Christ, and every time she sings, “Inch by little. . .”) But since she shows so much interest, I’ve started talking to her about the songs we sing. “Jesus is my best friend, Mara!” I said. “Who is your best friend?”
“Ummmm. MOMMY!” she shouted. Then she tilted her head to the side with her sweet melt-your-heart smile. “Mommy, Mara’s best friend!” That really made my day! She may not even understand the concept of a “best friend” yet. But I pray often that God will preserve our relationship and allow us to have a healthy, iron-sharpening-iron mother-daughter friendship as she becomes an adult.
Another interaction today between Mara and me was a bit of a rebuke to my own life. My sister (Aunt Mary) had two job interviews today. She is a physician’s assistant working for a neurosurgeon in Jacksonville, Florida, and she is looking for a new job. When it was time for her interview, I said to Mara, “Let’s pray for Aunt Mary. She’s looking for a job.” So we stopped and prayed.
When we were done, she said, “Pay [pray] Daddy’s job.” Daniel and I have been praying that he would find a new job soon too–so we stopped and prayed “for Daddy’s job.” Then Mara stood up, walked right up to me as I held Micah, and said, “Pay Micah feel better soon.” She took each of his hands in hers and bowed her head, waiting expectantly for me to pray. We prayed for Micah.
I am thankful that my little girl is learning at an early age to thank God for the special joys He gives her and to take every care and concern on her little heart to Him. It was a rebuke to me. Far too often, I “bear” my own burdens, rather than taking them to the Lord. My very best friend, the Creator God, who loves me infinitely and has all power wants me to bring my requests to Him, and He wants to give me His peace! Why is it that I (with my very limited resources and understanding) choose to carry those burdens myself?
In the few moments I spent in God’s Word today (before being interrupted by a hysterically crying toddler who had just thrown up in her crib), the Psalmist’s words spoke to my heart: “Be still in the Lord; wait longingly for Him. . . Trust in the Lord. . . Delight yourself in the Lord. . . Commit your way to the Lord. . . Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing. . . The Lord does not forsake His godly ones. . .the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; He is their strength in time of trouble. The Lord helps them and delivers them . . . because they take refuge in Him.” (Ps. 37)
I pray that God will write these truths on the table of my heart,that someday others can look at my life and know my very best friend, without even asking, because I delight in Him, wait longingly for Him, take refuge in Him, find strength in Him–and in the deepest part of my heart, trust Him for deliverance from every trial big or small.
Daddy’s Little Girl
Mara and I had a delightful day together. Days like today remind that I wouldn’t trade the privilege of staying at home with my children for anything. She was so much fun!
In the morning I was putting Christmas decorations away, and since she loves to wear hats, she paraded around for awhile wearing the Santa hat. I had to take a picture!
We tried on an outfit Grandma “Bubben” had given her when we visited back in October, and it fits now! So she was super-excited to wear a new purple outfit with her “perkle” shoes. 
She says, “Call Gamma?” whenever she thinks something merits telling Grandma. So we did. Then I took pictures to show Grandma (Mara in the outfit she gave her), and Mara insists that Mommy get in the picture too. I felt completely unprepared to be photographed, but who can resist when their 2-year-old daughter asks Mommy to come in the picture with her?
Then we tried on a dress that I got for her on eBay last summer. I got it in the hopes of getting a Christmas portrait or a portrait of the two kids together–which never materialized–so she’s never even tried on the dress. When she put it on, I wished all the more that I had taken them for portraits, because she looked adorable in the dress! So we had a little photo session of our own!
Before Daniel came home, I was working in the kitchen, and Mara came in with a cup and a spoon. “Mara make soup,” she said. “RED soup!”
“Red soup?” I repeated. “Is it chili?”
Mara nodded. “BEANS in it,” she said.
“Daddy like it!” she smiled in anticipation.
“Are you making soup for Daddy?”
Mara nodded again, her blue eyes twinkling. And if that wasn’t enough to make Mommy’s heart melt, she said, “Dressed up! before Daddy comes home!”
“You want to get dressed up?”
“Pink dress!” she exclaimed. “Tights!” Wow, she has this whole thing planned out!
She doesn’t actually own a pink dress, but she has a brown dress with pink flowers, which she calls her “pink dress.” I set aside dinner preparations to take her upstairs and get “dressed up” for Daddy! My heart was so touched by her excitment to see Daddy and her desire to do something special for him! It kind of made me want to get dressed up for Daddy too!!
——————-
My second Mara story is not nearly so . . . romantic . . . and needs three preliminary explanations:
* First, when Mara says “Bee-ya?” she means “What’s that?” She has done this for probably 8 months or so by now. We have no idea why. We have just noticed that whenever she doesn’t know what something is or wants to know what something is, she points to it and asks “Bee-ya?”
* Second, she calls nasal congestion “buggers.” (At this point, you are legitimately concerned about where this post is going!)
* Third and finally, she will randomly attach unrelated timeframes to her sentences. For instance, she might say, “Daddy work Friday.” It’s not Friday. It hasn’t been for three days. We aren’t talking about Friday. But she’ll just throw a timeframe out there that she’s heard before. She also references “last year” all the time. Not quite sure why. She just does.
Okay, so here’s the story: I pulled some hamburgers out of the freezer to grill for dinner.
Mara says, “Bee-ya? Bee-ya?”
“Hamburgers!” I said. “We’re going to have them for dinner.”
A look of understanding flashed across her face, as she said, “Mara–hamburgers in her nose last year!”
Wow. I couldn’t help it–I was dying laughing!