Randomness (and Caden)

*UPDATE*
As for #5, it was in the refrigerator. No I'm not kidding, but I may be a little crazy. I guess I grabbed the bag the nest was in as I grabbed the bag our to go food was in and walked in the front door and crammed it all in the fridge. We'll blame this one on a loss of brain cells due to pregnancy!


After the worlds longest post EVAH, I just have a few random thoughts to throw out.

1. I recently had to cut my baby's precious long hair in accordance with the "dress code" at his new preschool. It was a devastating event for all involved and to be completely honest, I'm still not totally over it yet. Well, my mom picks my son up from daycare almost every day and she told me the other day that she saw another little boy on the playground with the exact same hair that Caden used to have. Yes, his long beautiful hair was blowing in the wind as he ran and played. (That sounded like a little girl, huh.) Anyway, I'm slightly agitated that I was made to cut my child's hair and here he was with his long hair.

2. Baby Speer either really likes or dislikes when I sneeze, because every time I do it, she/he moves wildly around. It's one of the few times I get to feel it, because little one is still very...well...little. Oh, and the other night I was sitting on the couch with the worst earache ever, and I felt a sneeze coming on. I knew it would really hurt my ear, but I wanted to feel that little flutter so I just let her go. Pain shot all over my head of course, and that little stinker didn't budge at all. I will say that since my ear feels better, I kind of want to sniff the pepper shaker every once in a while.

3. Caden has been learning alot about God and Jesus at his new school and it's really starting to show. They have recently covered how God made everything so Caden has been asking me about everything from his toys to the seashells. We were at the beach a couple of weeks ago, (I need to do a post about that too, man I'm behind) and he asked me if God made the golf cart we were riding in. It's too cute!

4. On the same beach trip, we were walking out on the beach one day with his great grandmother (granny) and a horrible smell wafted under our noses. It was so bad, Caden even said "Eeewwww, I smell poop!" I said "Well, whatever it is, it really does stink". He was quiet for a minute and then he said "you know, God made poop. But he didn't mean to!"

5. Today was show-and-tell day for Caden, and since last week he had planned on taking a bird nest he and his granny had found in a bush. He has really been excited about it. That nest has been in a bag in my car for a whole week, and this morning, it was GONE. I remember seeing it just yesterday evening, but this morning, it has disappeared. I searched my car and the house in a frantic fit, to no avail. Vanished. So, when I told Caden I was so sorry but I could not find the nest anywhere, he said "It's ok mommy. I know what happened. A bird got the keys from my school and came and unlocked your car and took her nest out and locked it back up and flew away." I said "oh really". He said "yeah, I really think so".

6. This seems to have turned into a post mainly about Caden. Maybe I should rename it.

7. I have a thing about the texture of foods. I'm a picky eater anyway, but I really can't stand the texture of some foods. Like gummy stuff for instance. I have never like gummy worms, bears, nothing. I like to suck the flavor out but then I have to spit all that gooey mess out. Well, I'm not going to tell you how many gummy worms, gummy bears, and peach gummy rings I have eaten in the last few weeks.

8. I am so craving a tuna casserole right now! Ooh, and one of those yummy veggie pizzas my friend Jenny makes!

9. My anatomy ultrasound is scheduled for 4 weeks from today, so we will find out whether I can start saying "she" or "he" instead of "it"!

10. I just think this list should go to #10. It feels incomplete if you stop at #9. Maybe that's my slight OCD coming out.

New Mercies

I wanted to share some of the message we heard in church Sunday morning. It really captivated me and kept my full attention the entire time as the preacher painted a picture of such great sorrow and sadness that turned into a wonderful message of hope. The scripture was out of Lamentations and it talked about Jeremiah after he had been preaching for many years warning the people that God was going to send his judgement on them and everyone thought he was crazy. He was simply following the Lord's instructions and things didn't go quite like he had thought they would.

Here Jeremiah, a servant of the Lord, was doing exactly what he was told to do, but he certainly did not feel like he was in the Lord's favor. First I want you to read the scripture below. I know it's a little long, but bare with me. If you read his exact words, you can really see the pain and darkness he felt.

1I AM the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.


2He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light.


3Surely against me is he turned; he turneth his hand against me all the day.


4My flesh and my skin hath he made old; he hath broken my bones.


5He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall and travail.


6He hath set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old.


7He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain heavy.


8Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer.


9He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked.


10He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places.


11He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: he hath made me desolate.


12He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.


13He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins.


14I was a derision to all my people; and their song all the day.


15He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with wormwood.


16He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he hath covered me with ashes.


17And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace: I forgat prosperity.


18And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the LORD:


19Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall.

He says God has brought him out of the light and into darkness. God has broken his bones, has broken his teeth with gravel stones, has covered him with ashes. He has turned his hand against Jeremiah and shut out his prayers and screams for help. He says he feels like God has a bullseye right on him and has his arrow set to strike him at any time. He said "my strength and my hope is perished from the LORD".

This is a really dark and desolate place to be. I have been there before even in my christianity. Sometimes you just feel like God has either forgotten you exist, or has it out for you. It feels like all of heaven is brass and when you pray it just hits the sky and falls right back down to earth. You try and try to do the right thing, the "christian" thing and still the bad things keep coming. There is ALWAYS someone sick or dying, the car might break down, you probably need a new washer or dryer or worse, both. You've lost your job, got behind on bills, your marriage is suffering. You name it, it happens at one point or another and no, christians are not immune to it. You wonder why you even try at times and think it would just be easier to give up.

Then, as you sit in your pity party of despair and gloom, you remember (God reminds you) something way back in your mind.

For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

Malachi 3:6 (KJV)

God is still the same God today that he was in the very beginning, and he will be the same throughout the rest of eternity.

This simply means that he said he would never leave nor forsake us, and my friend, NEVER MEANS NEVER. He is and will always be there for his children no matter what you may think or feel. He cannot tell a lie, and in the Bible it states these very facts.

*Deuteronomy 4:31 (For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.

*I Samuel 12:22 For the LORD will not forsake his people for his great name's sake: because it hath pleased the LORD to make you his people.

*Deuteronomy 31:8 And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither FORSAKE thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.

*Nehemiah 9:31 Nevertheless for thy great mercies' sake thou didst not utterly consume them, nor FORSAKE them; for thou art a gracious and merciful God.

*Hebrews 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor FORSAKE thee.

These are just a few of the places where God promises to be with us always. That is a hard concept to grasp sometimes though because we can never live up to that promise. We can try our best to always be there for our children to keep them safe and out of harms way. But it is physically impossible to be there a full 100% of the time for their entire lives. They will have to be on their own at times. Even as young as 3 years old, my son has to go through his day at preschool without me physically being there. But what a thought to know that when I'm not with him, God is.

Period.

All the time.

Awake or asleep.

He has a constant watchful eye on us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. That doesn't mean bad things won't happen, but it does mean that he will be there to provide comfort and peace that can only come from him, if you will allow him to. Now I want you to read the scripture that immediately followed Jeremiah's proclamation that God had turned his back on him.

20My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me.

21This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.

22It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

23They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

24The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.

25The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.

26It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.

Lamentations 3:1-26 (KJV)

Isn't it just a beautiful and glorious thought that there is a promise of hope in any circumstance you face. I hope you were able to see past all the awful things in your life for just a moment and reflect on the goodness of God. If you wake up expecting clouds everyday, that's all you will be able to see. But if you arise in the morning looking for new mercies from a gracious God, you will see the Son's rays brilliantly shining through all those dark clouds. This is from a previous post (http://speerfamilyblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/certain-aura-of-gods-splendor.html) I did on clouds, but I love what it says.

The so called "clouds" in my life can cast me in a certain aura of God's splendor.

(ps. If anyone will tell me how to make the words highlight so you can click on them to go to a previous post instead of pasting the entire URL in here, I would so appreciate it!)