Legacy

Well, it's snowing again. BIG surprise. Sometimes it feels like this winter will never end. I have literally ached for spring to be here these past few days. I've come to the conclusion that when (and if) I decide to have another baby, it will not be during winter! Being shut up in the house for most of the week doesn't help break up the winter doldrums, either.

I was relieved to get out on Saturday with Gregg and Colton for a while. We went to Babies 'R Us (my husband's favorite place, ha) so that I could finally return some items we received during the summer at my baby showers. The amount was added to the gift cards we already had, totaling nearly $100. I decided to get some new clothes for Colton with the gift card, along with a baby gate. I can't believe we're actually almost at the point where one of those will come in handy!

Afterwards, we dropped by Grandma's for a pit stop because we were (sort of) in the neighborhood. I changed and fed Coltie there, and we stayed for over an hour, longer than we meant to. On the way home, we stopped at Outback for dinner. I had been looking forward to a dinner out the whole week. We reworked our budget after Gregg got his first paycheck, and decided that we would allow one meal out each week.

We were kinda hesitant to bring Colton along and considered leaving him with Gregg's parents, since he was getting rather fussy. The best of intentions... We actually got to the restaurant early enough that there was no wait yet, and settled into a booth towards the back. Colton was okay for the first five minutes or so in his carrier, then wanted out. Gregg offered to hold him until our dinner arrived. He ended up trying to eat his dinner with one hand while holding the baby with the other, because our son wasn't happy any other way. All seemed to be going well until Colton began screaming and was not content to sit on his daddy's lap anymore. Gregg had to get up and bounce him, then came back to the table. This continued a couple more times until we just gave up and aborted our attempt at a nice, civilized dinner.

We had our food wrapped up, quickly paid the check, and left. Gregg was stressed, I was stressed, and we ended up getting into an argument on the way home while Colton wailed in his car seat. We settled the matter later over ice cream from Dairy Queen after I put the baby to bed. Dates are hard to come by these days, that's for sure.

The next day we made it out to church. For the first time in five weeks! I confess we hadn't gone to church at all the entire month of January. Since Christmas Eve, to be exact. One of us was sick (and then got sick again), and last week there was no way we could have made it to Gregg's company outing if we had gone to service. It was so good to be in church again. Not because I think skipping church is necessarily sinful, it's just always refreshing to be in the company of other believers. To worship God with our voices. To hear God's word spoken and preached. A few people stopped us and said how it is a blessing to have us in their congregation again. And we responded that it is a blessing to be back.

After the particularly frustrating and stressful evening we had the night before, it was wonderful to be ministered to in the church that has always felt like home to us. Colton was even "as good as gold" in nursery. Ha, if they had seen him only 15 hours beforehand.

It was important for us to be in service, I think because more than anything it reminded me of who I am. Who I am in Christ, I mean. I am a mother and a wife of course, but I'm also a Christian. I believe I've been called to live out those roles in a Christ-like fashion. I'll admit, I haven't been feeling very "Christ-like" lately. The weeks have just zoomed by in my life these past few months without much time devoted to prayer or Bible reading. I have become convicted recently that my child doesn't stand a chance against the powers of this world if I'm not praying for him. Speaking God's word and truth over him. Daily.

Every day after Colton's second feeding and changing, I read to him a little bit. He has a sizeable collection of books by now, including Curious George and The Eric Carle trilogy (author of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar"). He even has a "My Adventures with Winnie the Pooh" book with him written in as one of the characters. Noticeably missing from this collection however, is a Bible. This struck me the other day, and I made it a point to get one for him (in a child's version).

When we showed up at Gregg's parents' house for Sunday dinner this weekend, my MIL had a gift for Colton as she frequently does. With some "help" from his cousin Kate, Coltie opened the package revealing... a picture Bible! I'm so glad I can start to introduce my son to Bible stories, even at this tender young age. He needs a firm foundation in his early years, because as he grows older there will be so many other things vying for his time and attention.

I've recently picked up "When Mothers Pray (God Listens)" by Cheri Fuller. I received it as a gift back in September, and it's been sitting in the small basket placed beside the glider ever since. Of all the countless things I can teach my child, I want the most important thing to be that he was created for a relationship with the God of this universe. I have to think about the kind of legacy I want to leave for my children. Is it the one of worry and anxiety my mother passed on to me? I don't think so.