A Fool and His (Her) Money

"And he told them this parable: 'The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, "What shall I do? I have no place to store all my crops."
'Then he said, "This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ..."
'But God said to him, "You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself."'" Luke 12:16-20

Of all the possible stressors in my life, money is the greatest one. In all honesty, it probably always has been, but now it's a bigger stressor since we're living on one salary. The winter months are always especially difficult, probably because the electrical bill is so much higher, and other bills in general seem so much larger.
The sad thing, though, is that I KNOW that God will provide; He always has, and He always will. Yet, in spite of knowing this, I worry about whether or not we'll have enough for groceries or household goods, let alone bills.
One way in which He provides for us is through savings. Since the beginning of our marriage, Scott and I have been putting away money regularly. Then, when I was pregnant with Leah, we started putting away even more each month in anticipation of living on the one salary. Needless to say, He has provided us with a cushion for emergencies.
Which leads me to the Scripture above. I know that typically the parable is used to teach us about giving, yet last week, when I was feeling particularly overwhelmed about our finances, I saw another message: God has provided, but we (more like I) had to allow ourselves to access it. See, I am the fool who wants to store up the blessings God has bestowed upon us. There's nothing wrong with saving. The problem arises when we don't do anything with it. I've treated our savings as if it's unaccessible, untouchable; it was okay to augment it, but not okay to make any deductions... for any reasons. (Case in point: the car needed repairs last month, so we took that money out of savings. For a split second, I actually thought of writing out an IOU to our savings account so as to repay that amount!)
The verse reminded me that yes, it's okay to access the provisions God has placed in our lives so long as I use them wisely (Translation: being able to access them doesn't mean running up the credit card bill only because I can pay it off with money from savings.). What a fool I have been!

The Big Reveal

Last Wednesday, we learned that we are having a boy. How exciting! Although I have said throughout the pregnancy that it was a boy, Scott didn't believe me. Until now. Obviously, this means he was rather surprised by the news. Here's a run-down of our appointment:

Ultrasound technician (T): So, you want to know the gender, huh? Any predictions?

Scott (S): I say it's a girl.

Me (H): And I think it's a boy.

T: Well, are you going to pull out your phones and start texting right away? (She obviously doesn't know me!)

H: Uh, no. We'll wait until we leave.

T: Okay then. Here's the baby's leg, and here's another leg. And here's the baby's kickstand.

(General elation and cheers from me and Scott, accompanied by much grinning.)

S: Are you sure? I don't want to find out in the delivery room that this is a mistake.

T: Oh, without a doubt.

For the rest of the appointment, Scott and I both were on cloud nine. And, unlike with Leah's ultrasound, Scott actually paid attention this time.

At one point, Scott did mention that he wanted to text John (while we were at the appointment), but I reminded him that he had to call his parents first (and he did). Later, still during the appointment, Scott started planning the baby's athletic future: Skatequest (the local ice rink) should be rebuilt by the time the baby is one, so he could start skating lessons soon thereafter. (And just today, when I mentioned that we don't need too many baby toys for him since much of Leah's are gender neutral, Scott couldn't help but suggest buying him some hockey sticks.)

Needless to say, we are so THRILLED with the news (evidenced by the fact that we both started making phone calls as soon as we stepped off the elevator).

23 Months

In both photos (top & bottom), Leah was loving on Laura, her friend Will's little sister. Leah managed to get Laura laughing just by bending over and smiling at her. In the top photo, Leah's giving Laura hugs and kisses.

Leah and her beau Will. (He gave her a Valentine!)

Hmmm, let's sign her up for music lessons now!

See what I mean about Leah and babies? She was having so much fun hanging out with baby Mollie.

Palling around with Will.

Moira made herself comfy in Mollie's carseat, and then Leah decided to recline against a toy car garage so that she could chat with her friend. They acted as if those were the most natural places to relax.

A friend dropped off some maternity clothes, and Leah helped herself to the bag. She toddled into the kitchen with a shirt, and then started tugging at the one she was wearing. (She hasn't mastered--thankfully-- dressing and undressing herself.) With a little help from me, she managed to change shirts. Oh how I love this little girl!

Leah is one month closer to turning two years old. Yikes! Our little princess has such a kind, loving heart, and I so hope it continues to grow with her. Watching her with her friends is such a joy, but watching her with the little ones, specifically little babies, is particularly heartwarming. She loves to hug and kiss them, and apparently in Moppets the other day, she checked on a younger girl (17 months) in the class who was upset when her mom left. Obviously, this is all a great encouragement to me since our little boy will be here by the end of June.

Below are the usual random tidbits of information about Miss Leah.

*Likes to sing the alphabet song. She recognizes and can identify all her letters, even if she hasn't quite mastered the words to the song.

*Enjoys counting to ten, but for some strange reason, she never wants to start with or say "one". Every so often, we'll count her to discipline her (1, 2, 3 before time out). A few months ago, she started counting along, always stopping at three. Well, now she continues all the way up to ten! Despite knowing how to count, she can't quite identify her numbers yet. Still, that will certainly come with time.

*Dare I say it? She's potty-trained. We started last month, and she's been accident-free for five days now. Yeah! Today was her first time wearing underwear to Sunday school, and she managed to come home in the same outfit she wore to church. In fact, she went to the bathroom twice while she was there! Yeah! I love the idea of only have one in diapers (well, with the exception of naps and bedtime).

*Puts herself in time out. Like all little ones, Leah will whine on occasion. The other day she did so because I wouldn't let her up in my lap while I was eating. Instead, I told her to go play. Well, she did NOT like that, so she started to fuss (and an obviously fake one at that!). I didn't want to punish her for whining, since, after all, she's expressing her opinion. On the other hand, I didn't want to listen to it, either. So, I told her to go in the family room to fuss (I was there at the kitchen table). When she was finished, she could rejoin me or play or read. Being the obedient child that she is, she complied, but she wasn't by the couch for even a minute before she said, "time out," and walked herself over to her time-out spot. All by herself. Once she sat down, I did remind her that she could come out whenever she wanted to (unlike the usual time-requirement), which wasn't too much later. (And after that, she was fine.)

*Loves all things Noah, as in the Bible story. I think it all started with a song from one of her CDs. Well, that and the Noah's Ark toy.

Obviously these are just a few pieces of who Leah is. If you really want to know her, come on over for a visit; I'm sure she'd enjoy having someone else love on her.

Better to Have...

Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

I couldn't help but think of the above adage as we said farewell to some dear friends who will be leaving us for the Deep South later this week. Saying good-bye is never easy, especially to people who mean so much to us, who are such an important part of our lives, but I wouldn't trade the pain for a non-existent (and painless) relationship.

I could see where, initially, keeping myself at a distance and not forging new friendships might seem like a good idea; after all, if I'm not in a relationship with someone, then I can't be hurt by (or inflict hurt on) the other person. On the other hand, then I cannot be the giver or recipient of a smile, a kind word, or a sincere conversation. Truly, that's what the adage is referencing.

Without one another, more specifically without loving and caring about one another, we miss out on life's greatest joys and blessings. Because of my friends, I've tried new foods, conquered (relatively speaking, of course!) physical challenges, and stepped out of my comfort zone. They've provided countless pieces of advice, many hugs, and innumerable fun times. Simply put: By loving others, I'm living life, not just doing it.

If avoiding the pain means avoiding all the happy memories, then I'll accept the pain. After all, my friends will be there by my side, loving me through the moment, just as they do the joyous times.

Hard to Swallow

I recently read an article about weight-loss and diet in Reader's Digest that didn't sit very well with me, and that's not because I have horrible eating habits that I need to change. Rather, the issue is what the science journalist (interviewed) recommends people do.

According to the article, much of our thinking about weight loss is wrong (counting calories is impossible; exercising doesn't make you thin; diets don't work). I can understand the thinking behind dieting and counting calories; after all, according to the journalist, the more you workout and the less you eat, the hungrier you'll be (I TOTALLY get that!). Plus, dieting ultimately leaves the dieter feeling hungry. Those are both compelling reasons as to why we need to shift our thinking. However, I have a hard time accepting the hypothesis that exercising doesn't help you slim down. If not, then how come I know of so many people who have? (Granted, they also revamped their eating habits, but changing their diet alone didn't enable them to lose the weight that they did.)

The premise behind the shift in our thinking is that people need to eat in a way so as to keep their insulin low, which means eating more protein and high fat foods and less carbohydrates. Apparently the science journalist made this shift himself and discovered that not only did he lose weight, but he also didn't feel hungry between meals. (Think the Atkins diet.) Again, I agree that eating protein is beneficial for losing weight and staving off hunger; various health magazine articles attest to that. They also support limiting your carb intake, so no problems from me. The problem I have is the claim that a high fat diet is healthy for your heart. Really? Healthy? He doesn't advocate eating solely fats and protein, but he certainly doesn't recommend eating the amount of fruits and vegetables that most nutritionists suggest. Without a healthy dose of fruits and vegetables throughout the day, isn't he depriving himself of essential vitamins, minerals, and nutrients that keep the body healthy? And without exercise, doesn't that limit his body's ability to be at its peak? I notice a difference when I'm making poor food choices and when I fail to make time to exercise; I feel more sluggish, less alert. When I make a point to consciously eat healthy foods and to work out regularly, my attitude, my energy level, my overall well-being improves.

Maybe my perspective is a bit skewed since I haven't struggled with my weight; but then again, maybe that's because I try to make healthy choices when it comes to diet and exercise. (I use "diet" as in what I eat regularly, not in the sense that I'm going on a diet. And this doesn't mean that I eat great all the time.) Overall, shouldn't we try to eat-- protein, fats, carbs, fruits, vegetables-- and exercise in moderation?