Funnies.........

So they've been TOYING with the idea of walking.  C not so much, but A & B definitely!  Well, yesterday, my eldest (by 30 seconds) just took off.  Stood himself up and off he went across the playroom.  Until he realized what he had done and plopped down and cried.  He had just totally freaked himself out, and amused us in the process.  I feel confident that once he's really up & going, the other two will be mere days behind because they are all so dang competitive.  (I wonder where that came from?!?!?)

With all three the same age, you see the most fascinating developmental differences.  The boys, well C especially, crash cars and bang things.  They fight for something to the death (or mother's interference).  The lady of the bunch though, she hightails it out of there if the boys come to play w/her toys.  She does not want to get into it.  Unless she's riding the big blue dog - that she'll fight for (or scream for as the case may be).  But one is such an engineer and will spend hours figuring out a toy.  Another is a complete social butterfly and flirt.  And the other is fiercely independent.  All three products of Bray and I, yet all three radically different.  I think the Psalmist should have added "I am fearfully and wonderfully and UNIQUELY made."  One has tons of hair.  One has no teeth.  Yet they all have the same eyes and toes. 

Ecclesiastes tells us, "As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things."

Isn't it cool to watch it all unfold?   Why they are obsessed w/petting my husband's trophy deer hanging on the wall?  How they decided to start sharing their food w/me at mealtimes?  What words they decide to say next?  How they fall asleep in the crook of your neck?  Ah.

I have friends with children going through some major struggles.  I'm grateful for this quiet period for me to just spend watching the babies learn.  And whether you are in a quiet time or a tumultuous time, it resonates that twice in Job these words were uttered syllable for syllable:
He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.

I have three constant reminders of unfathomable miracles.

Wordless Wednesdays (which I stole from my dear blogging friend)

His Hands

I was driving into work this morning and heard a song by JJ Heller - as you'll be able to tell pretty quickly, God often uses music to really drive home a point to me.  And it's amazing that you can hear songs and read scriptures that say the same thing but sometimes it just jumps out at you in a new and fresh way.  And part of the song's chorus and refrain says:

When my world is shaking, heaven stands
When my heart is breaking
I never leave your hands

Your hands that shaped the world
Are holding me
They hold me still

Isn't that amazing?  How often do we really appreciate that fact that the Hands that shaped the world, those that designed the beautiful little faces on our children, those that flung the stars into place, they are holding little me and little you.  Little tiny dot on the planet me.  If that doesn't bring you some security, some peace, some ability to rest, then I can't imagine what would.  He's holding you today. 

What a difference a day makes......

So I thought I was having a rough week.  Bumps in the road at home.  Bumps in the road at work.  But then I realized they weren't real bumps.  They weren't even ant hills.  Yesterday, I was barraged with seeing real bumps from those going through some of their biggest life challenges.

A dear sweet friend of mine who prayed over me on my wedding day discovered her 3 year old has a rare fast growing cancerous tumor behind her eye.  They're doing a body scan as I type (and pray) to make sure it hasn't spread.  More than a bump, it feels like the road has opened up before her and ended in a cavernous pit.

A woman I've worked with in the community for years told me she's slated for surgery next week because she found out she has breast cancer.  Her three kids, two of whom are old enough to understand, are heartbroken.  More than a bump, it feels like a roadblock.
 
My mom's dear bible study friend had her husband unexpectedly die of a heart attack.
 
A triplet mom who's blog I read gave birth to a full term baby stillborn.
 
And in the midst of this barrage, you have to question what the Lord is doing.  Why?  How?  It makes no sense.  And I drove with all this sitting and circling in my head to a Beth Moore bible study.  Worship was lead by Christy Nockels.  She always has such a spirit of worship around her, and being still, surrounded by these voices, brought my heart back to who Christ is and why we follow him despite what we sometime see with our human eyes.  And sometimes we sing despite what we see because we know that we couldn't possibly understand the reasons why or what will happen as a result.  But we have faith.  Faith.  Faith in a loving God.  Faith in a Savior full of grace and mercy. 
 
If you haven't heard her sing Hosanna, get it and listen to it.  It isn't a song that says you're here in the middle of this terrible thing even though we don't see you.  There are great songs like that.  But it is a simple request and song of praise.  It's aspirational.  
 
I see a generation
Rising up to take their place
With selfless faith.  With selfless faith.
I see a near revival 
Stirring as we pray and seek
We're on our knees.  We're on our knees.
Hosanna, Hosanna
Hosanna in the highest....
Heal my heart and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen
And show me how to love like You have loved me.
Break my heart for what breaks Yours
Everything I am for Your kingdom's cause, As I walk from earth into eternity.
Hosanna, Hosanna
Hosanna in the highest....
 
And as a PS, even as I was surrounded by these road bumps cropping up all around, I was also reminded of the fact that we often sing praises to God because of the absolutely unimaginable beautiful miracles He performs every second.  I knew it the second I walked into our nursery and saw three beautiful sleeping one year old triplets that defied all the odds to become our children.  A day doesn't go by without my offering up a thank you to my Heavenly Father  - words that will never be enough to express the neon gratitude that my heart flashes each time I see their face and pick them up and kiss them and say "I love you."

Really, so I'm actually going to try this again......

So as may be apparent from the one & only previous posting, I clearly did not get into the whole blogging thing.  What with work, bedrest, having triplets, living in the NICU for a month, raising triplets, going back to work....well, you get the picture.  However, I'm going to try once again.  Mainly because the trio's baby books are in sad sad shape and if I force myself to post about life, they'll have some record of their early years - what did our mothers do????

So where are we today?  Hubby still has a great job.  I'm up for a promotion.  And the itty bits aren't as itty or bitty anymore - and they're ONE.  I work Mon - Thurs and stay at home w/the fab 3 Fri - Sun.  A (boy) & B (girl) are taking steps on their own - they've each mastered three to four solo before crashing in our arms.  C (boy) isn't as interested in walking on his own since he clearly can push everything around the play room w/reckless abandon - not just push toys mind you, he believes everything has wheels, so even our kid sized music stand goes from one end of the room to the other with the big Hulkster pushing it around.   

Here's some shots from our amazing One Year pumpkin patch photo shoot with dear friend Allie. If these aren't the cutest babies in the world, then I don't know what.........