Us in the New Year

How is your 2012 going? We've had our ups and downs I suppose. We've enjoyed a lot of things...being back at church for a potluck, a quiet afternoon reading and playing outside, a family lunch at Matt's parents' house (Happy Birthday tomorrow, Barnette!!), riding bikes, playing with neighbors.

We've also had a few frustrations. The potty saga continues with Julia. She is definitely making progress overall and will tell us every time she goes potty--just not always in time to get her on the potty and she can be really unpredictable! So we've had lots of mess to clean up still.

And then there's good ol' Pogo. He was doing pretty well and had such a good time playing with the boys and the neighbor boys for hours yesterday. But then today we were gone a few hours in the morning and again in the afternoon. We came home to several holes dug in the yard, a plastic bowl drug out of the garage and chewed to bits, and a very wild doggy. Who knows what he's going to tear up next!

And we are having such a warm welcome to the terrific twos with Julia! She can be so fun and so sweet, but boy is the sassiness coming out...no thanks to her brothers who give her just the words she needs to tell me off in her toddler way! She often tells me "I don't cayah!" And today she was babbling about something and I was walking around the house (didn't stop and listen) and she called after me, "Mommy! I talkin to you!" There is no stopping this girl!

Now I've never been a big New Year's Resolution kind of person, but there's something about finishing up the holiday season that just lends itself to planning and getting organized. So we've done some very New Year's-ish stuff too.

For one thing, I made a plan of doing more homeschool with Gray. I was down to a reading lesson here and there, whereas before our moves, we did much more. As I watched Gray successfully tackle a thinking game (it's "Rush Hour"...thanks Grandmama and Rick!), come really close to spelling correctly several words lately, read some words on his own initiative, and make progress on his own in his writing, I realized he would probably really enjoy some more schoolwork. Now that we are settled, I need to give him that time.

Oh how I love to clean out stuff and in very New Year's fashion, I went through all our toys and the ones at the gym and reboxed and reorganized it all. It is so nice to get rid of some things that are not played with and to arrange the stuff the kids do still like so that it is more likely to be used and easier to clean up.

One of my Christmas gifts was "Kisses from Katie", which is the book by the girl that I've mentioned before who lives in Uganda. Her blog and her life has really stuck with me and made me want to live a much bigger life, getting outside of my own little world. She has encouraged me to give much more of myself to others and I so want to be able to meet the needs of the poor, though it's hard to sort out how exactly to do that. Her life has spurred on my desire to adopt one day and inspired me to hopefully help start a ministry to the poor in Hillsborough with the help of our church.

It is uncomfortable to read about one girl that has made such a difference in so many peoples' lives and to come to the realization that I'm neglecting some of the needs that are closest to Jesus' heart, such as the poor, the orphan, the widow, for the sake of my own comfort. But it's also hard to figure out what exactly to do about it. I know that God is working in my heart and I know that he can open my eyes to the way he would have me live.

Though having our own new business means our income can be a bit shaky, I do want to trust God more to provide and I want to always say yes to him. So last night we decided as a family to sign up to support one of the children in Katie's program. After showing the boys some pictures and explaining more about what life is like for these precious kids, they even agreed to help us pay for it with some of their piggy bank money. We decided they will contribute $5 each a month either from their money or by doing jobs from a list Matt made. I am excited to get a name and picture for our child and to make this ministry even more personal for our family. (Check out amazima.org for more info)

I'm also talking with Durham Cares about volunteering again. They are very good about making personal contact and checking back with you when you are taking a break from serving. So I recently got another email check-in and again, very typical for the New Year, I decided I should see about getting involved again. I am hoping for something with kids.

So that is our 2012 so far. Joshua is very reluctantly starting school tomorrow so we'll officially be back to the old routine. He is getting a new assistant teacher in his class that is supposedly very upbeat and friendly, so I'm excited for that. Hope your New Year is starting off well!