Adventures in Our Home & Hearts: Somebody Turned the Big 3-0...

Giving God Glory
Powerful Truth - The following lyrics from the song You Are God Alone really impacted me a couple weeks before our 2nd miscarriage, and the truth hit home even more and encouraged me after the Lord took our little one home to be with Him:

You are not a god
Created by human hands
You are not a god
Dependant on any mortal man
You are not a god
In need of anything we can give
By Your plan, that's just the way it is

Chorus:
You are God alone
From before time began
You were on Your throne
You are God alone
And right now in the good times and bad
You are on Your throne
You are God alone

You're the only God
Whose power none can contend
You're the only God
Whose name and praise will never end
You're the only God
Who's worthy of everything we can give
You are God
And that's just the way it is

Unchangeable
Unshakable
Unstoppable
That's what You are...
You are God alone!

Praises & Prayers
Loved One - The Lord intervening in a loved one's life in a powerful way! Praise the Lord for answered prayer.
Tami - Praise for the Lord blessing her and my dad with a wonderful time on their cruise in the Mediterranean. Continued prayers for God to heal Tami, but ultimately that His will be done. Praise for God giving strength and peace to her and my dad during this time and also for Him giving loved ones His perspective.
Our Family - God's protection as we travel to Wisconsin to visit family for a week in September and for blessed time (as always) with family while we are there. :) Praise that we have a 2 hour direct flight from Denver to Madison and vice versa. Pray for wisdom and for God to take care of the details with possibly trying to sell our home and buy a home with the low interest rates and good short sale/foreclosure deals available.
Wes - Praise for God helping him persevere through the past class he took on Genesis. Prayer for God to bless his semester break from classes and that he would enjoy reading the Bible for personal pursuits rather than mainly academic ones. Praise for God growing the co-worker he has been discipling as this young man has been encountering different trials and bearing genuine fruit for the Lord.
Me - Prayer for the Lord to bring healing and restoration to my body as it is still recovering from this past miscarriage. Prayer for a blessed time on our church's women's retreat in September.
Noah - God would graciously save him at a young age if that be His will. Praise that his tantrums are more of a rare occurance these days! Prayer that God would give us wisdom in teaching him what obedience looks like when he tries to avoid obeying by turning it into a game with getting cute, smart-alecky, and playful. Prayer for grace, understanding, and patience for everyone on our plane to and from Wisconsin, that the Lord gives Noah a peaceful spirit, and that He gives Wes and me creative ideas to help Noah peacefully make it through the 2 hours of sitting.

What's on the Harrisons' Hearts
The Blessing of Possessing Nothing - Wes has been reading The Pursuit of God by A.W. Towzer and a chapter in this book discussed the blessing of clinging to nothing besides Christ. It struck Wes of the importance of cherishing Christ above everything and everyone else, including me and Noah, which can be easier said than done at times. Our miscarriage made these truths he had been learning about really sink in as both of us were drawn closer to Christ in many ways through this loss and through the blessings that have resulted from it.

Piper's Perspective on Trials - John Piper, who I had the privilege of sitting under his preaching during some of my college years in MN, wrote an article titled Don't Waste Your Cancer that our Sunday School teacher shared the Sunday after our miscarriage. These truths were very helpful in seeking God's perspective on our recent loss and also on Tami's Alzheimers. We all face trials and can be encouraged from these truths, so think of how you can - "don't waste your _______" (fill in the blank). Here are a few excerpts...

I write this on the eve of prostrate surgery. I believe in God’s power to heal—by miracle and by medicine. I believe it is right and good to pray for both kinds of healing. Cancer is not wasted when it is healed by God. He gets the glory and that is why cancer exists. So not to pray for healing may waste your cancer. But healing is not God’s plan for everyone. And there are many other ways to waste your cancer. I am praying for myself and for you that we will not waste this pain.

You will waste your cancer if...
1. you do not believe it is designed for you by God.
2. you believe it is a curse and not a gift.
3. you seek comfort from your odds rather than from God.
4. you refuse to think about death.
5. you think that "beating" cancer means staying alive rather than cherishing Christ.
6. you spend too much time reading about cancer and not reading about God.
7. you let it drive you into solitude instead of deepen your relationships with manifest affection.
8. you grieve as those who have no hope.
9. you treat sin as casually as you did before.
10. you fail to use it as a means of witness to the truth and glory of Christ.

Marriage Memories

A New Way of Serving for Us... AWANAs - We love working with children and teaching them about God! The past 5 years we enjoyed serving in Children's Church, and we planned to continue doing so when the Lord led us to our new church. However, He had other plans and ended up leading us to serve in AWANAs - Wes as a 'TNT' leader working with 3rd-6th grade boys and me as a 'Cubbies' leader working with 3 & 4 year-olds. It has been an adventure, and we are growing a lot and hope that we're planting seeds of truth in the hearts of these precious children.

The Big 3-0! - Wes planned a surprise 30th celebration for me and took care of arranging baby-sitting and everything. I have such a wonderful and thoughtful husband! We enjoyed a get-a-way date day to the Museum of Nature & Science in Denver and out to dinner at Landry's for my favorite...crab legs! Mmmm! :)

Having Fun ('Don't Squash Us') & Enjoying Each Other

Family Fun

Noah's 1st Zoo - We had a great time visiting the CO Springs zoo for Noah's first time. He fed a giraffe (and wasn't too sure if he liked it or not), rode a train with Daddy, "observed" all kinds of different animals, played hide-and-seek with Daddy and Mommy in the little toddler area, and loved crawling in and out of the tunnels they had throughout the zoo. We think his favorite animal was the monkeys since it seemed like he enjoyed them the most. ;)

Our Fam

Checking Out the Monkeys & Exploring the Tunnels

Feeding a Giraffe

Tutoring - Another school year started, and I am thankful for the privilege of tutoring the same 3 girls again. It brings me such joy to teach them about God as well as being able to help them learn the academic skills they need.

Noah News

18 Months Check Up Stats
     Weight - 21 lbs. 3 oz.     3-10%
     Height - 29 1/2 in.           < 3%
     Head - 19 in.                50-75%

1sts - Zoo, running, giving hugs & high 5's, pointing to body part - nose
# of Teeth - 6 - 3 on top & 3 on bottom (1 canine on top)
New Words Noah is Saying - Bible (Baba), banana

Latest Loves
Climbing up our adult step stool
Giving hugs
High 5's
Mowing with Daddy
Playing with neighborhood kids
Chasing & being chased
New toys - trucks, mower, car
Reading, reading, & more reading :)
Running
Throwing objects
Squealing/screeching in delight & excitement
Organizing toys & objects
Kicking balls
Playing with shoes

Mowing with Daddy & Enjoying His New Mower

Noah's New Ride & Playing with the Neighborhood Boys...

...and Girls

Other Intriguing Info

*Croup - Noah got croup for the 1st time. Fortunately his 18 months check up appointment was soon, and our doctor prescribed him a steroid and antibiotic that helped him get well in about a week.
*Our Little Reader - Noah loves to read - anytime, anywhere, and any place.

Laying down...

...sitting... and standing!

Reading His Book

Memorable Moment of the Month

A Joyful Memory - Prayer - Noah started folding his hands when we pray...so precious! We hope the Lord continues to stir in his heart a love for Him!

Our Precious Pray-er

A (Hopefully) God-Honoring Memory - Miscarriage - You'll notice a lot of my reflections on our miscarriage are previously in this post and also in a seperate post right after the miscarriage occurred, and this definitely greatly impacted us in many ways! Our hope and prayer is that through this trial that God was honored and glorified and also that we have become more like Him. So, what's the next step? (I'm sure you're wondering as we did too. Keep reading if you want details.) First of all, we are giving my body time to heal. My OB's experience is that most miscarriages are caused by a lack of the hormone, progesterone. So, she gave us a "pass to the lab" to find out asap if we're pregnant when we have even just a hunch that we might be, since they will be able to determine if I'm pregnant through bloodwork before a home pregnancy test could. Then my OB wants to see me asap so she can start me on prometrium for the 1st trimester, which will boost my progesterone, and also on baby aspirin for the entire pregnancy which is supposed to help prevent miscarriages as well. Ultimately, Wes and I know that God is sovereign, and we trust Him with blessing us with more children in His perfect timing and ways. We also know that God may work through medicine to accomplish His will (which we experienced firsthand with my C-section), just like Piper said in the article I mentioned previously. We'll see what the Lord has in store for us. We cannot thank you all enough for your prayers!

More Memories

Kickin' It with Grandpa Rush Video