sunday sermon

Our pastor Rick, had a thought-provoking sermon on the second of the 10 commandments this morning. I was freshly convicted of my natural inclination to view God as one whose primary purpose is to make me happy. It’s the common sin of worshiping a god made in my image or as I want him to be. It’s very difficult to accept all facets of God as He reveals himself to be – he dispenses mercy and justice, brings joy and pain. It’s hard to fathom a love that allows the beloved to suffer. But that’s just what God did to his son Jesus when he allowed him to be tortured and killed for the salvation of sinners.

I’m keenly aware of this sinfulness because I’m prone to depression whenever there are major things in my life that I don’t like. It seems that every blessing that I can readily identify has an offsetting element of sadness that overwhelms the good part. Case in point, my beautiful son. The joy of having Riley in my life is coupled with heartache that I have to leave him with another caregiver for 55 hours a week. There are other examples. I naturally get angry at God for not caring about the things that really matter to me and sink into a depression, as I did on Friday (again).

What I know about the God of the Bible is that he wants me to be like Jesus – and that my holiness is more important to him than my happiness. I can’t deny that he’s blessed me – I just want more. So, during confession and the Lord’s Supper, I had a fresh repentance of my discontentment and rebellion against the God that didn’t spare his own son to give me salvation. Having a son of my own, I’m really blown away that God would allow his son to suffer for me. I’m trying to get my arms around that reality and find it’s too much to comprehend.

Anyway, I thought I’d post a link for those that might be interested:

http://ctkcambridge.org/sermons/9-30-2007.mp3

I love the part at the end about Jesus knocking at the door and the fire in the basement -- a little predestination humor that some of you will enjoy...

Shelby

Riley-boy is 4 months old!

The big change from last month to this one has already been reported – he rolls from his back to his belly now. Unfortunately, he doesn’t like tummy time unless it’s on the boppy, so he starts squawking to help as soon as that happens. Goofy kid.

His ability to grab toys, hang on to them and stick them in his mouth is much better now. His favorite objects to suck or chew on are still his fingers however. They’re in his mouth more often than not.

He’s talking, smiling and giggling for us a lot and he’s got ticklish spots on his tummy and neck which mommy and daddy like to exploit!

He continues to sleep well from 7p to 6a as long as he’s put in bed with a full tummy. Sometimes he needs to be “re-binked”, which we will work on weaning him of in the coming months.

He eats 5x a day approx every 3.5 hours. At his doctor’s appt today, he weighed in at 12.5 lbs, which puts him in the 10^th (!) percentile. I’ve been concerned about this as I’m not producing the quantity of milk that the books say he should be eating. He hasn’t been cranky about it, but now that I know he’s lagging in weight gain, I’m starting to supplement the deficit with formula. This afternoon, after finishing off 8oz (3oz more than usual), he just sat back and relaxed like a satisfied man after Thanksgiving dinner. That’s my good-eatin’ boy!

He enjoys playtime with Daddy after I leave for work in the morning:

In the afternoons we enjoy our walks around Lake Quannapowitt.

He’s still unable to sit up straight, hence getting the monthly shot right took a few tries:

What a difference three months can make...

We love our boy!

Shelby

birthday weekend

With my birthday on a Monday this year any celebration was going to be done this weekend. I have to say that this birthday is so much more special to me than any other. I tend to be a person that looks at his birthday as a celebration regardless of my age, but there is so much more to celebrate in my life this year.

Last year I had a wonderful present; I found out that I was going to be a dad. For a guy whose greatest longing was for a wife and kids there couldn’t have been a better gift. This time around I’ve got the gift sitting here with (on) me. Reflecting on my 49 years of life brings me to thinking of God’s faithfulness to me. For so many years I looked at relationships as something that brought me pain, mostly because of the lack of anything meaningful. I wondered if this was my “thorn” and prayed a number of times for God to take the desire for wife and child from me. He said, “No.” It wasn’t just not getting an answer, I really got the sense He was saying no. When Shelby came into my life I came to understand why.

I’ve also come to see that God is the one who gives us the true longings of our hearts. We have to be so careful that our longings don’t become idols that we run to, distancing us from God our provider. It can be hard not to become angry with God when it seems like He’s withholding the fulfillment of such a strong desire. I know that I had times where I screamed at Him… The amazing thing is that God is the only one who truly knows what the longings of our hearts are, and He is the only one who can truly fulfill them. He wants us to seek Him first though, and the problem is that you have to wait for His timing. Fortunately, this time I did. And the Lord really came through.

So I come to 49 with more thankfulness in my heart than at any other time in my life. I can truly say that I would not want to go back to any other age, I’m truly the happiest I’ve ever been. All of this brings to mind the words from the hymn “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty” (which was our processional at our wedding, by the way):

Hast thou not seen
How all your longings have been
Granted in what He ordaineth?

Amen and thank you Lord.

So here are some pictures of my ‘birthday presents’ this year:

My smiley son at the Outback Steakhouse

My family – Yeah!

Another highlight today is that Riley turned four months old! It’s amazing, it seems like he’s always been a part of my life at this point. Incredible how fast I can forget what it was like to be childless…

We love our boy and I love my family!

Jonathan

an anniversary of sorts…

J reminded me last night that it was 1 year ago that we found out I was pregnant – he remembered the date was Sept 20th. The next nine months weren’t always fun (esp. at the end), but I knew my child would be worth it. Now that Riley’s here, I can say that I underestimated the amount of joy I would derive from being a mom. “Mom” is a title that still seems a bit foreign to me, but I’m slowly getting used to it.

Today when I drove up to Diane’s house, the kids were out in the yard playing and I heard Jack (2) & Kylie (3) call out “Riley’s mom!” to announce my arrival. It struck me that I’m known by many different names:

Sweetie to Jonathan

Baby Girl to my parents

Shelbonzo/Bonzo/Bonz to my Nashville friends

Shelbs to my Maine cousins (and a few Bostonians)

Shelby to everyone else

But being Mama to Riley puts a smile on my face like nothin’ else.

My friend Kristen (Mama to Nate) posted these lyrics on her blog this week and I thought I’d pass them on to y’all:

our vows they started breathing

and they took on flesh and blood

and we held them in our arms

and tasted God was good

Amen and amen,

Shelby

giggly boy

Needless to say, we're having a lot of fun with Riley-boy. It's great to have him interact more with us. He giggles whenever we go for the neck!

We love our boy!

Shelby

smiley riley

Our boy is doing well during the day with Miss Diane and the other kids. When J drops him off in the morning, the kids excitedly holler “Baby Riley’s here!” and gather around to give him kisses on his feet (Diane’s germ control measures, which we appreciate). Riley enjoys the attention and gives his fans lots of smiles. His nickname at daycare is Smiley Riley. When I pick him up, he’s usually outside with the other kids, waiting patiently for mama to come and feed him his dinner. When he’s not sleeping or eating, he enjoys his swing and playing on the boppy pillow or in the bouncy seat.

After 4 weeks back at work, I’m doing much better at adjusting to my hours away from my son. It’s good to know that he’s in good hands and having fun while I’m gone.

Shelby

toys

Riley’s hand-eye coordination continues to improve and he’s enjoying some of his toys even more:

He giggles when we make the chick and ladybug "talk" to him. Here he's distracted by the TV behind him.







This is his preferred tummy-time position and daddy's good about giving him TT every morning as he's getting ready for work. Mmmm...those links sure are tasty!






Pull, Riley pull!









concentrating on the rattle...








Enjoying his new jumper from Uncle Michael and Aunt Cheryl!






Another major accomplishment -- he can now roll from his back to his tummy. He did it yesterday for the first time and again several times today. The kid's going mobile -- the real work is just around the corner!

Shelby

running momma

Saturdays of late have been days for family outings. We’ve gone to places like the Boston Harbor Islands and Porter Square and taken walks on the Minuteman trail and at Breakheart Reservation. This week we trekked into Boston for something different. Three and a half months after delivering Riley via C-section Shelby was running in her first post-pregnancy road race!

It was a very hot course (no shade and 90+ degrees) and water had run out at one of the water stations , but Shelby did great. She actually ran faster than she thought that she would, covering 5 miles in 55 minutes. Here’s a picture of our Running Momma as she comes into the finish line:

Riley and I enjoyed some bonding time while we waited at the Boston Harbor Pavilion for Mom. We found a shady spot and Riley got to eat and then we played for a bit before heading out to the street to look for Momma as she headed down the home stretch. Our boy handled things well, not getting scrunchy (ready to cry) until just before Shelby came down the street.

It was fun watching Shelby race and being her “support team”. It was also a great excuse for the family to head into Boston for some fun. Riley particularly enjoyed when Daddy made his toy on his car seat “talk” to him:

It’s amazing, but I don’t even think about missing riding my mountain bike while we’re on these family day trips. Family day is fun day.

Mom and baby are now enjoying nap time after all the excitement. Mom really earned her nap today. Dad is looking forward to being the “support team” many more times in the future.

Good job, Mom.

Jonathan

the many faces of Riley

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a gif animation will be worth many thousand more…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since the Blogger for some reason changes the gif and makes it into one solid image, click here to see the animation.

We love our boy!

Jonathan

first photo shoot

Here’s the first peek at Riley’s first official photo shoot, marking 3 months:
Mama's favorite:

































































Mama lovin' on her boy:

Shelby