An all-time favorite

This poem has always given me strength, comfort, and courage to follow Him no matter what the cost.

Hast Thou No Scar?

Hast thou no scar?
No hidden scar on foot, or side or hand?
I hear thee sung as mighty in the land,
I hear them hail thy bright ascendent star
Hast thou no scar?

Hast thou no wound?
Yet I was wounded by the archers, spent,
Leaned me against a tree to die; and rent
By ravening beasts that encompassed me, I swooned;
Hast thou no wound?

No wound? No scar?
Yet, as the master shall the servant be
And pierced are the feet that follow Me;
But thine are whole: can he have followed far
Who has nor wound nor scar?

Amy Carmichael,
Gold Cord: The Story of a Fellowship

Fun family day.

Today we have had a great time hanging out with Adam. We went to the loxahatchee river center and the loggerhead marine center. We love marine life and had lots of fun looking at the fish and turtles.

Bonding with daddy

Andrew loves his daddy! Here they are swinging

Big shoes to fill

Andrew loves shoes. Here he is wearing Adam's flip flops.

16 Months, A Full Fledge Toddler and No Looking Back!

It's amazing how some days, Andrew grows so much that I notice a change over night. This week he turned 16 months. According to the baby sites, he is now a full fledge toddler (whatever that means). He talks non stop and says many words. Anything that he doesn't know, he points and says "DA-no," kind-of like he's saying, "Don't know." As we were riding the other day, he would not stop pointing and asking for the word with the corresponding object in sight. Oh no, hear we go... I'll never get in another word! Often I'll say something to him that ends in "this." For instance, "Do you want to play with this?" "Do you want to eat this?" He walks arround saying, "This! This!"

He also follows more specific requests now. I was surprised the other day when I asked him to go get the book about the big red dog, Clifford, and he brought it to me. Also, he'll bring me random objects that he's taken out of place. I decided to see what he would do if I asked him to put them away. He does a pretty good job of it! I tested a bit further and asked him to put my shoes away. He brought them right to my closet! Okay, I know this will not last forever, but hey I'll enjoy it while I can.

Also, he likes to start the dishwasher, toaster, and about any other thing with buttons and knobs he can get his hands on, including flushing the toilet.

We continue to have a lot of fun watching him grow and learn new things. It's amazing the way God grows this little guy right before our eyes.

Bounce

With Andrew bouncing off the walls, I thought it would be a good idea to get out of the house this morning. We went to a local indoor bounce place (very cool). To my surprise, Andrew looked at the whole bounce arena with suspicion. He stuck by my side even though we were the only ones in the toddler area. He warmed up a bit and found the most enjoyment in the mini ball pit.



Here is his apprehensive face




In this picture he looks a lot like I did as a baby.

New pets

Ever since he came out of my womb, Andrew has been asking for some fish. Okay, not really. However, "fish" was one of his first words and his room is all fish stuff. We pulled an old tank Adam had in the garage and got a few goldfish for Andrew's room. He loves it! Also, the gentle hum of the air pump makes a nice white noise... Great for naps and bedtime!