Family Alive

Name Game!
Brian realized last night that Analise is saying her name! I, personally, only heard a garbled mumbo-jumbo word, but after much chatter today involving her name, I, too have determined that she can say “A-sheesh” very distinctly when we prompt her. Yeah! In more name news (no, sorry! not revealing our little Toone-to-be’s name yet!), Grandpa is the only person who Analise calls by name, and guess what it is? “Boppa”. How odd is that? But it’s definitely her word for grandpa.

Consignment Sale Season!
Last wekeend kicked off the first couple consignment sales around here. I found a couple small things and a few maternity pieces of clothing. But yesterday was the BIG sale, called Kids Market. It’s held in an old grocery store, and the place is packed with racks of clothes, shelves and shelves of toys and games, more strollers/carseats/swings/etc than you could imagine (think larger than the produce section of a grocery store!), and furniture. I had a couple things in mind to look for, but didn’t find the *exact* fit (ie, a new crib for the little one and/or a toddler bed for Analise). But we did find 2 great deals. Analise has always enjoyed playing with Weebleville at friends’ houses, and there was one in excellent shape with a bag full of Weebles for only $8. But the best find for my little mothering girl was a plastic changing table/bath/high chair station. Analise is always putting her baby up on her changing table – which, she then can’t reach. This is a perfect fit, and it’s already gotten great use out of it. Only $6! She’s going to be a well-practiced big sister when the real baby arrives. Now she just needs to learn to swaddle her baby (which I do on average 10 times per day).

Other Chit-Chat
Brian’s just started reading again. He goes through phases where he’ll read voraciously, but then not read for quite a while. His only reading choices in the more than 2.5 years we’ve been married: C.S. Lewis (currently just starting the Space Trilogy, reading Out of the Silent Planet) or J.R.R. Tolkein (read the Lord of the Rings series back to back at least once during the first year of our marriage.) He definitely knows what he likes and sticks with it!

We’ve had 2 full nights of sleep… dare I hope for another tonight? More good news, Brian’s finally over his sinus infection/bronchitis woes. Also, this coming weekend we’ve got the opportunity to go to a bed & breakfast with a group from church Friday to Saturday. This will be our FIRST night away from Analise in 20 months. Wow – that is hard to believe but true! My thinking is, better do it now, because in about 3 months, there will be another little one arriving to take over our nights for a good long while! My fingers are crossed for Grandma Beverly and Grandpa Tom as she stays with them. Analise enjoys her time with them so much, and as long as they take her outside and wear her out in the fresh air for an hour or so in the afternoon, she should be good and tired for a full night’s sleep.

Living Proof Live in Birmingham
I’m just now getting the chance to put my thoughts into blog-form from the Beth Moore conference a couple weekends ago. It was a GREAT experience. She is a dynamic speaker, with a powerful testimony. I love her Bible studies, but to see her in person was a great privilege. She’s very down to earth, full of comical stories, yet very humble and practical in her teaching. It was amazing – there were over 18,000 people (mostly women) at the event. It was just great to see so many people coming together to draw nearer to God and be filled up with His word. If you ever get a chance to see Beth Moore teach live, jump at it! You won’t be disappointed! (You can learn more about her and her ministry, Living Proof Live, at their website.)
Our church was one of 50 “host” churches, that provided volunteers for the event. I tell ya, being a volunteer was the WAY TO GO. We had teriffic seats right down front, and our work was easy. It was fun to be involved in the weekend!

By the way, I know I’ve mentioned it before, but Beth Moore’s newest bible study, The Patriarchs, is EXCELLENT. We’re doing it as a small group on Tuesday mornings, and I’m learning so much about the history of Judaism, which is our history as christians. Man, Genesis 1-50 reads like a soap opera! It’s crazy! Even more interesting is how much God foreshadows His plan of salvation for us throughout the different stories! Great stuff!

Generations
The main topic of the teaching from the Beth Moore weekend was about generations.

• God calls forth every generation.
  Who has done this and carried it through, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD -with the first of them and with the last—I am he.” (Isa. 41:4)
• God characterizes generations.
  Over and over He gives adjectives to describe generations: “warped and crooked”, “unbelieving”, “seeking”, “chosen”. Overwhelmingly, God is referring to the generation of HIS people. What will our generation be know as? We could be known as the “believing” generation! It’s up to us!
• God is faithful to every generation; He never withholds His love from us.
  For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. (Psalm 100:5)
  No matter what has happened in perversity and unbelief, we have NOT outlived or outsinned God’s faithfulness to our generation.
• Generations are altered when collective individuals are altered.
  This one struck closest to home for me, as I feel it’s very true of what’s happening in our home church ministry at Clearwater. People are coming together weekly to open up, talk about God’s word, pray for each other, and step out of our comfort zones together, and lives are being changed. In turn, we’re becoming more and more motivated to reach out and impact our generation with the love God has shown us. It’s up to us as individuals – whether or not we’re in a home church! – to allow ourselves to be changed by God. That is the starting ground for His work in our generation.
• Acts 13:36 – David served God’s purpose in his own generation.
  Psalm 24:6 – a generation of those who seek Him – face to face!
• God holds each generation responsible for the next generation. A faithful generation will always leave a legacy of faith.
  I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments. (Exodus 20:5-6)
  I really liked this, as it shows how applicable my life as a parent is to building up the legacy of faith that my children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and so on will walk in. He’ll mark them for a thousand generations when we teach them to love Him and keep His commands!

The Indescribable Tour
On Thursday before the Beth Moore conference, Brian and I went to a praise and worship concert by Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman and Louie Giglio. It was AWESOME! Great music, powerful message, and just a sweet way to start out the fun, full weekend I had before me. They are top-notch worship leaders, and its an amazing difference to go to a “concert” that isn’t about the performers but about bringing people into a worship experience with God. Definitely see them if you get the chance!