We are Rejoicing!!!

Last night as Chris and I spent some special time with Benjamin, he told us that he had been thinking a lot recently about being baptized and letting God be the boss of his life.   Wow!  The feeling upon hearing those words for a parent is incredible!  This is the culmination of more than twelve years of praying, discipling, training, and loving.  We spent precious time together discussing the gravity of this decision and spending time in prayer together.  To know Benjamin's confidence in making this determination leaves us feeling at such peace.  In 3 John verse 4 it says, "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth."  Amen!

Growing up in a Christian home, Benjamin has always known the Truth and accepted it, but this was a huge step in making it "official" and confessing his sin before God and acknowledging that he needed God to forgive him so that he could be a part of His family forever.  He wanted to be baptized right away, so as the Ethiopian eunich in Acts 8 said, "Look, here is water.  Why shouldn't I be baptized?"

It was somewhat of a late night already, but we got the other kids out of bed and prepared the bathtub.  It was wonderful to rejoice together as a family and witness in such a close and personal way THE birthday of Benjamin Clark Wolfe.  Praise the Lord!  Praise the Lord!

Tonight we're off to eat dinner at the place of Benjamin's choosing, but we will continue celebrating for many days, weeks, and years to come!  We love you Benjamin, and are so very proud of you.

Benjamin's Science Lab

Benjamin is our number one science fan.  He is always coming up with experiments to show us and can rattle off obscure facts that are completely unknown to me.  He set up a full science lab in the boys' room, complete with Ginger the lab rat.  I love his inquisitive nature and can't wait to see how he chooses to use that when he's older. 

I also have to comment on Benjamin's choice of shirts.  Ever since he was little he has had a favorite shirt.   I can remember some of them, as they were ones that he tried to wear every single day.  I'm sure if you look back, you'll see this shirt over and over and over in pictures from the last year.  Silly boy!

Memorial Box Monday - The Dove

Each Monday during our family devotion time we either repeat one of our old Memorial Box stories, or share a new one.  This story is one that I posted well over a year ago, and it is one of our favorites.  It came to mind today as I have a friend that is in the middle of a house search, waiting for God to provide just the right home for their family.

In the fall of 2001 we had a five year old, a three year old, and a 6 month old.  Our little blue house was starting to feel a bit cramped and we prayed about finding a new home that our family would be able to grow in.  We really thought that “grow” meant that our three kiddos would grow in size, not grow as in number of kids, but that’s a story for another Memorial Box Monday.

We got our house ready to put on the market and started watching the real estate listings that came up.  We weren’t quite ready to buy yet,  as we wanted to sell our old house first and wanted to save up just a bit more cash, but a home that we had spotted and thought would be perfect for us came up and we asked our real estate agent for a tour.  This was the very first home we toured, and as we looked around we just knew this was “the one”.  It had so much that we had prayed for and desired.  It had great square footage, it was located on a few beautifully wooded acres, it was just outside of town yet still close to everything, and had so many other neat specs. We made an offer on the house, but sadly it was declined because we made the offer with the contingency of our old home selling and another offer had gone in at the same time for a higher amount.  We were disappointed, but trusted that God had something just as right for us.

For the next six months we continued our house search.  Our old home sold (hey, that’s another MB story!), we moved into a duplex temporarily, and we toured and drove by countless other homes.  Each home was compared to the very first home we had toured and fallen in love with.  I scoured the new listings on-line daily and we continued to pray.  In May of 2002 I spotted a new listing as it came up in the afternoon.  (Yes, I knew exactly when the listings were updated daily!)  It looked like a possibility so that afternoon we drove by to check it out.  As we drove up the road that the house was on we crossed under some telephone wires overhead.  There were a few pigeons and one white dove sitting on the wire.  Chris laughed and said, “Hey, that’s a sign.  There’s a white dove.”  I laughed it off, too.

As soon as we pulled down the beautiful wooded driveway we were more excited.  The surrounding woods were gorgeous and there were even deer in the front yard that we spooked off.  We arranged to see the inside of the house immediately.  This house was even better than the standard we had compared everything to in just about every aspect.  The rooms were bigger, the property had more acreage, the location and neighborhood were better than we imagined and so much more.  Here’s the kicker.  Aside from the little white dove, the house number of the very first house was 6200 and the house number of this house in the woods was 6200.  We knew we had multiple signs from God that we had found just what He wanted to provide for us.  It was better than we had dreamed.  God is awesome and wants to give us much more than we imagine, just in His perfect timing.

In our Memorial Box we have a little white dove that is our standing stone representing the wonderful gift of this home that He so perfectly provided for our family in which to grow, not only in physical size of the kids, but also in number of children.  We are filling it up!

To our friends and anyone else out there searching for a new house, or just waiting on Him to provide, keep doing that.  Wait.  When we put our trust in Him and follow His leading, He will provide at just the right time and in ways we could never have imagined or asked for.  He is good!

(This isn't the best picture, but I wanted to get our standing stone dove along with our house number.)

Wolfe Brothers

We had a fun day yesterday with the other two Wolfe brothers here with their families.  With eight kids around there was no lack of excitement, noise, or play.  I love seeing how our nephews and niece are growing and watching them interact with our kiddos.  It is a blessing to live close enough to plan a day together.

(I know, blackmail photos for future years!)

 Oh, the mayhem of wrestling, little girls and boys attacking uncles and the big boys.......

Uncle Eric made up for some of the mayhem by reading to the kids.  

Zane has a great "cheese" going on!

Signs of Spring

Grandpa H called today to let us know that the first crocuses had popped up overnight.  We went down to see, and there they were, hundreds of little purple blooms (and one yellow one!) all over the yard.  Beautiful!

Oh, brother!

I don't think the boys got out of the house enough today!  They've been wrestling and running around wild, laughing and screaming, and having just plain fun.  So thankful that these two boys have each other.

Bits and Pieces

This morning we woke up to more beautiful snow.  Now admittedly, I am getting a little bit anxious for spring, but I do love the beauty of freshly fallen snow.  It's especially gorgeous when it's wet and sticks to our surrounding woods to create a winter wonderland.  This video may make you a bit sea sick, but I wanted to take a panorama of what we look out at.  We are so thankful for this little piece of property that we call home.

 

Here are some still shots to settle your queasy stomach.  :)

And here are some random shots from around the house.  

Over the years we have marked the growth of the kids on a door frame.  If we ever sell the house, well....we'll cross that bridge when we come to it!

Not only does Ami play dress up by herself, her animals get involved, too.  Here is the lovely Princess Diamond (in pink) and the Classy Alley Cat complete with earrings.  I guess there weren't enough earrings to go around for Panda.

Shower Songs

 
Elijah makes me smile.  As I sit at the computer, he is in the shower singing at the top of his lungs.  His made up lyrics and tunes are a hoot, yet such a glimpse into his thoughts and heart.

Here is some of what I typed as he was singing.

I will go to the Lord in my trouble
Jesus died on the cross for your sins
He will help you
He will come to you
We are the Lord's
We are made from the Lord
There's no one like Him
He could make anyone
He could take care of you
If you have some trouble
He will help you
I am the Lord's
The Lord who saves you from your sins of the evil, evil, evil

Go and rest and eat and find some food
What will you do

(I couldn't quite catch the lyrics he was singing as he brushed, flossed, and swished, but then he came out of the bathroom and started singing to the rats.)

God made you too
He knows what you are
And he knows your name
He names you too
He makes sweet little things
And he looks at it
He said "it is good"
He blesses us all of us, even you
You are very, very fun
You are very soft
You are very roughy rough
You are skin, you are rough, you are fat, you are soft
You two are very cute
You are very weird, I don't know what is wrong with you

(I believe that last lyric is in reference to the fact that Midnight has a cocked head and does act a little strange, even for a rat!)

Oh do you want to make a fire song
I will think you are the very best friend
I can find no one says you can find a best neighbor in the town
You can find, you can find, you can find the best neighbor
I think you are the best neighbor
And I think you are very fun, too

(Not sure about that last stanza, but maybe he's singing about Grandpa H.)

Seriously, this boy has come so far in two years.  He exhibits so much fruit of the spirit....love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  Really all of those things.  What a gift he is to our family!

Birding

We only live about ten minutes from the Missouri River and near our home is an excellent wetlands birding area.  It had been quite a while since we last visited, so with yesterday being a holiday from work and school, we headed out and invited "Grandpa H" to join us.  "Grandma H" was an avid birder, and he enjoys and keeps up with the birds, too.

We weren't disappointed in our expedition, as we were soon able to spot a beautiful bald eagle.  We thought it was quite appropriate for our patriotic holiday.

Our first sighting.....if you click on the picture to enlarge it, he is sitting on a dead limb on the right side of the big tree in the foreground.  Look for the white head and tail.

It took some patience, but the kids were able to see with the binoculars, and as we got closer you could easily see him with the naked eye.

A bit pixely, but I zoomed in for a closer look . Such a majestic bird!

Mr. Eagle is the black dot in the tree coming out of Benjamin's head.  :)

Puppet Show

Michaela and Benjamin have had the privilege of being on the youth puppet team at our church.  They practice regularly and then perform for various church functions, but they also perform as a ministry at nursing homes.

It was fun to watch the kids perform yesterday at a local nursing home, but it was especially neat to see the seniors singing along to some old time hymns and songs, to see them smiling, clapping, or lightly tapping their feet to the beat.