Adventures in Our Home & Hearts: Fall Fun

Giving God Glory

Beauty of the Body of Christ - Our God is a God of order and organization, and we praise Him for how He beautifully designed the body of Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:12, 18 - For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ...But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. We are amazed at how the Lord perfectly gifted each person in the body of Christ with different strengths and gifts that work together beautifully with each other to carry out ministry. We need each other and are not able to glorify the Lord as fully without each other. Lately, we have been especially seeing the body of Christ work beautifully in AWANAs because there are so many different aspects and people involved with different roles and responsibilities, and the Lord enables all of us to come together to reach children with the gospel of Christ and to glorify Him.

Praises & Prayers
Neighbor - Prayer for God's will to be done in blessing her with a new job and for the Lord to continue to show Himself faithful in providing for their family during this time of waiting. She is the mom of the two daughters I have watched and worked with in the mornings.
Friend in WI - Prayer for God's will to be done in blessing him with a new job and for the Lord to continue to show Himself faithful in providing for their family during this time of waiting.
Brett & Kate - Praise for the Lord blessing them with another little one on the way.
Asher - Praise for the Lord helping his surgery to go well and for the Lord working through him to bring joy to those at the hospital.
Paul & Amanda - Praise for the Lord blessing them with the arrival of their healthy and precious baby boy, Brayden.
Family Bible Study - Praise for the Lord uniting family in WI through Monday night Bible studies (Aaron & Kim lead, Mom watches the children, and Dad and siblings enjoy participating in the study).
Tami - Continued prayers for God to heal Tami, but ultimately that His will be done. Also continued 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 - Praise for the Lord blessing us with the opportunity to become members at our new church. Continued prayer for God's will to be done with possibly selling our home since He knows what is best. Continued prayer for God's perfect timing and ways of growing our family.
Wes & Me - Prayer for wisdom and discernment with fulfilling our priorities and also desires during this season of life.
Noah - God would graciously save him at a young age if that be His will. Praise for this enjoyable season with Noah in which he is overall obedient and is a joy to play and interact with. Prayer for God to grow Noah in sharing Wes and my attention and his toys with other children (as he has opportunities to learn these lessons with Selah and Thane who are now with us one day a week).

What's on the Harrisons' Hearts
Contentment in All Circumstances - Contentment can easily come and go in our hearts, and it is important to seek to be content no matter what our circumstances. 1 Timothy 6:6 - But godliness with contentment is great gain. Philippians 4:11, 13 - ...I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am...I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. The key is depending on Christ and asking Him to help us see life and our circumstances from His perspective! With contemplating what the Lord has in store for us with selling our home and weighing the pros and cons of moving or staying, it has been tempting to become discontent with the cons of our present situation. We have also had opportunities to grow in contentment with waiting on God's timing with growing our family. However, the Lord has grown us in depending on Him for His perspective, and He has been giving us great contentment in where we live presently and with rejoicing in our precious Noah. We can always find good in our circumstances when we look for evidences of the good work God is doing in our lives. As my dad always used to tell me, "It's up to you to choose whether the glass is half empty or half full." :)

Marriage Memories
Date Night - We enjoyed a delicious and different-than-our-normal-kind-of dinner at the Heart of Jerusalem Cafe. Thank you to Adam and Wendy for recommending it to us! It's always fun to try new kinds of food and find quaint and yummy restaurants.

Heart of Jerusalem & Noah passed out in Grandma's lap when we picked him up

Family Fun
Another Ministry Opportunity - The Lord brought an opportunity our way, through one of my previous co-workers who recommended us, to provide childcare for a sweet 4-year-old girl and cute 9-month-old boy. The little girl is a super smart little "sponge," so I have been teaching her Bible truths, verses, songs as well as working on academic skills. I tell Wes I am getting practice for when the Lord hopefully blesses us with more children. Two will seem like nothing after taking care of three! ;)

Wes, Selah & Noah slicing eggs & Wes and Thane enjoying a snack

Chick-Fil-A Family Night - We enjoyed experiencing our 1st Chick-Fil-A family night, and we would definitely go again! Two precious memories: 1) Noah's 1st encounter with the Chick-Fil-A Cow - Noah stared that cow down and kept tabs on where the cow was at all times. 2) Noah's balloon fun - Noah loved the balloon that the cow gave him and batted it around the entire time it was in his hands.

The stare down

Noah's balloon fun

No More Classes - Well, at least no more classes for another 5 years for Christina! I finished my last class that was needed in order to re-certify and keep my teaching license current. Whoo hoo! Wes is also enjoying taking a break from classes this quarter. He'll start back up in January.

Messin' with Noah - Wes enjoys messin' with our son, and here's Wes' latest fun. Poor Noah! He's a good sport, though. :)

Wes "pulling one over" Noah

Pumpkin Patch - We enjoyed a wonderful time at a local pumpkin patch - corn box, gunnysack slide, petting zoo, hay-bail maze and climbing tower, and hayride (which was Noah's personal favorite since he was quite fascinated with the tractor and it's large tires).

Pumpkins galore!

Corn box & Hay-bail climbing tower

Giant gunnysack slide

Wes' New Pet - Wes has a fetish with pet spiders. Here's his latest friend...

Barney eating the wasp that Wes fed him

Dog Drama - One day we forgot to put Honey's muzzle on. The two "yahoos" as Wes often refers to them had done fine in the past when we had forgotten it. However, this time Honey bit Sierra in the face again in the same spot that she had several months ago. We figured Sierra's wound would heal, and it did. Then we somehow lost Honey's muzzle...maybe Noah put it somewhere and is holding out on us? Sure enough, the next time we left them in the garage together Honey bit Sierra in the same spot again. Sierra's wound became pussy, so we took her to the vet. She returned home with some antibiotics (that was thankfully not very expensive) and in time her wound healed completely. Wes wrestled with getting rid of Honey again...for now Honey's banished to her kennel when we leave, and Sierra gets the garage, warm blankets, and dog run all to herself. We're convinced Sierra is living it up when we're gone!

Visiting Daddy at the Firestation - We spontaneously joined Wes for dinner at work one night. Noah loved the lights on the firetruck. Noah and Daddy also "worked out" in the weight-room together. ;)

Firetruck fun & Treadmill "workout"

Wes Converted to a Broncos Fan - JK! For those of you who know how much Wes is a die-hard Packer fan, you know that would never happen! ;) He did enjoy going to a Broncos game with his good friend, Dennis.

Our Little Cheesehead - Our nearby recreation center had a fall festival, and Noah had a wonderful time! Grandpa & Grandma Rush, Uncle Adam, and Aunt Wendy did too. :) Noah surprised us by completing all the games and activities with almost no help. He knew exactly what to do to get his candy prizes! We determined that he takes after Mommy since Reeses are his favorite.

Our fam having fun

Throwing the ball through the hoop & Pausing for a pic with Grandma & Grandpa Rush

Evangelism Opportunity - We continued the tradition we started last year of staying home on Halloween and using this event as an opportunity to share the gospel. Seriously, evangelism doesn't get any easier than this - people come to your home; you are able to give them truth along with their treat; and almost all of them receive both excitingly. This year we even planned ahead and bought colorful tracts specifically made for children for Halloween. A lot of kids were more excited about their "book" (the tracts were little booklets) than they were about their candy. Praise the Lord! We hope and pray the Lord works through the seeds of truth that were planted in these children's hearts (and hopefully some parents' hearts too).

Noah News

Age - 20 Months
1sts - Pointing to all major body parts, going up & down stairs by himself w/out support, jumping, Pumpkin Patch, Fall Festival
# of Teeth - 9 - 5 on top & 4 on bottom (1 canine on top)
New Words Noah is Saying - Mommy (Momeeee), more (mah), water (waduh), bye (bah bah), no :(

Latest Loves
Popsicles
Balloons
Running, jumping, climbing
Banging objects
Snack cup (open) - a step up from his "Cheerio cup"
Jumping/bouncing on things - balls, bed, etc.
Throwing balls, toys, you name it!
Baths
Clapping his hands with "If You're Happy and You Know It" song
Helping cook (aka licking the beaters/spoons)
Unloading the dishwasher
Crayons and coloring (aka "pounding" crayons on his paper)
Peek-a-boo
Gumball machines
Pointing to ask what everything is
Swatting the fly swatter like Daddy
Chasing the dogs
Hat & gloves (which he despised last year)

Climbing the big step stool & Helping Daddy cook

Noah's version of unloading the dishwasher

Enjoying his (step up) snack cup & Sporting his dino hat & gloves that he loves

I wonder why Noah likes to help cook?

Other Intriguing Info
*No Means Yes - Noah's in the phase when he says "no" a lot more and often does not mean it.
*A "Swing" in Swinging - Noah went through about a year-long phase of detesting swings. This month he decided he loved swinging! We'll see if it lasts. :)
*Initiating Peek-a-boo - Noah loves to initiate Peek-a-boo. He'll put his hands up to cover his face and wait for you to ask, "Where's Noah?" He'll get all giddy and giggly and then remove his hands with a huge smile on his face.

"Where's Noah?" ..... "Peek-a-boo!"

Memorable Moment of the Month

Noah's 1st Pee in the Potty - One night Noah started acting like he needed to go to the bathroom, and he went and got his potty (which up to this point he had always used as a step-stool). We figured, 'Hey, why not let him try.' So, we set him on his potty, and sure enough he did his business. :) Noah did this similar scenario 3 times in one week! We are so proud of our little guy, though he has not really tried it again since that week so we haven't pushed it since he's only a little over 1 1/2 years old.