Fantastic Friday

Today has been such a wonderful day! The women of my church are doing a summer Bible reading challenge. We are reading through Luke, Acts and all of the NT epistles. Our pastor's wife put everything together and has given us a daily reading assignment for each day. We just started on Wednesday. My goal is to be in God's Word each morning before the rest of my house awakes. I would love to establish this discipline now before, Lord willing, my family grows.

This morning, I spent time reading in 1 Corinthians. I must say, it is absolutely incredible what the Lord does with my heart and mind when I start my day with Him. It's a little embarrassing that I'm just now figuring this out...or rather taking action with what I've known to be true. My prayer is that this would be a lasting discipline - unlike all of the other times I've set out to do my "quiet time". Honestly, I don't want this to be about checking a box on my "Good Christian To-Do List". And I am hopeful because I don't feel that way at all. God has really been changing my time with Him since I started my study of James back in February, courtesy of my friend Sheri.

Speaking of Sheri, that is the second highlight of this fantastic day. Jackson and I went to the post office to see if our Father's Day package had arrived. It did not, but I was pleasantly surprised to find a package from my friend Sheri who recently moved from Germany back to the States. Inside was a Bible study on Esther for us to complete together and have accountability over the phone or through email. She also put a very cute bookmark inside the book. Then, as if that wasn't enough, she sent Jackson a great pair of jeans and an awesome blue button-down shirt. I can't wait to see him in it because blue is his best color. I've been wanting to take some photos of him since he's 18 months old. I think this shirt will be perfect!

Sheri is an unbelievable friend. God put her in my life when I really needed a female companion with whom to share my struggles and my victories as a follower of Christ, a wife, and a new mommy. Her package today made me feel so loved and appreciated by her as a friend.

After the post office, Jackson and I went to the playground. We haven't been in about a month because of all of our traveling and then spending most days at home recuperating and getting back into a routine. The last time we were at the playground, he wanted me to hold his hand while he slid down the slide. Today, while I was drying one slide (with the newspaper stuffing from Sheri's package!), I caught him out of the corner of my eye as he was sliding, on his bottom and not on his belly, down another slide! When he got to the bottom, he squealed with delight! I was so excited and cheered him on. He proceeded to do this tons more times until the rain came and we hurried to the car. Each time he reached the bottom, he would say, "Yeah!" We were both so proud! (And this was the one day I didn't bring my camera or video camera.)

Later, while Jackson napped, I mowed the lawn for Jason. I love mowing the lawn but rarely get to because it is Jason's job (and he's insistent upon it being HIS job). It was a prelude to my Father's Day thankfulness.

After dinner, Jackson was Chatty McChatterson. We took advantage of it by asking him if he could say a bunch of different words...one being Jackson, which we shortened to Jack. And he said it! Jackson said, "Jack"! We then tried explaining, in a way that he would understand, that Jack is his name. It was so much fun!

Now, Jason is putting Jackson to bed and I'm blogging about our great day while our tea steeps. Putting Jackers to bed has always been my thing. I think Jace has only put him to bed 2 times and both times were because I was gone (I'm not counting the newborn days when he slept constantly). Now that he's getting older, I don't want him to think that he can't go to sleep without Mommy being there. It's a little sad for me because it means that he's growing up; however, I feel it's best for him and for me. Plus, I know there are going to be times in the future when I can't put him to bed. We're just trying to prepare for those nights now. From the sound of it, everything is working beautifully!

Have a happy Father's Day weekend! Good night!

Well, I now have to add one more thing that makes today even better: I just purchased our airline tickets for our trip to Houston in September! Jackson and I leave on the 12th and Jason joins us on the 19th just in time for his younger sister's wedding. I can't wait! The best part: we don't leave until 9 October because Jason will be doing job-search stuff and interviews. That's almost an entire month for me and Jackson!! I can't wait to see everyone!