Adventures in Our Home & Hearts: The Greatest Love of All & Lovin' on Our 4-Year-Old

Giving God Glory

Resting in God's Sovereignty in the Midst of Potential Sequester Impacts - "Do not worry then... for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of hits own." Matthew 6:31-34 The sequester has potential to significantly impact us personally, though the impacts could be even worse for others, and in perspective of others in third world countries who live in poverty, these impacts are quite relatively minor. (Side note - I'm not going to address where we stand politically on this issue.) There is potential Wes could have a significant cut in pay for multiple months, and there is potential his job could be cut. We are thankful that the Lord has guided us in having a game plan if these cuts happen that our budget and savings could handle, and we are grateful that Wes' field of work guarantees him a job if his is cut - it may be for a lot less pay, and it may require us to move. In the midst of uncertainty and a lot of "what ifs," God has given us a deep peace that guards our hearts and minds by reminding us:

of His sovereignty - that He is in control (Job 42:2),
of His provision - that He will provide for all our needs (Philippians 4:19), and
of His wisdom - that His plans are good and best (Romans 11:33) and that He may call us to move to a different "mission field."

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

What's on the Harrisons' Hearts

The Greatest Love of All - Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13 The greatest love of all and greatest example of true love is given by Jesus Christ in how He sacrificially and lovingly laid down His life so that those who repent of their sins and trust in Christ for forgiveness can be made right with God. Christ calls believers to this same kind of love (John 15:12, 14) - to love God by obeying Him and to love others by laying down our lives for them. I have always thought of this verse in light of being willing to physically die as a martyr for Christ and being willing to physically die in place of another - if these kind of situations occurred. I am sure these principles are still applicable, but the Lord grew my understanding (through a blog post by Ann Voskamp) of what it looks like to "lay down my life" daily to love God and others, particularly Wes since the truths were about marriage. Here is an excerpt:

There are no standing lovers: the only way to love is to lay down.

Lay down plans.

Lay down agendas.

Lay down self.

Love is always the laying down.

This is how to make love out of a marriage: Love lays down it’s own wants to lift up the will of another.

Love lets go of its plans — to hold on to a person.

Click here for the full blog post by Ann Voskamp - How to Be a Better Lover

So, I can daily "lay down my life" to love God by dying to my flesh and selfish plans and seeking to live out God's priorities and plans. I can also daily "lay down my life" to love Wes by dying to selfish desires and seeking to fulfill Wes' desires and interests (Philippians 2:3-4).

Praises & Prayers

Various Loved Ones - Continued prayer for wisdom and for Christ's strength and perspective as they are in the midst of various trials (James 1:2-5).

Tami - Continued prayers for the Lord to give my dad and other loved ones His perspective and that God would heal Tami, but ultimately that His will would be done.

Our Family - Praise for God helping our hearts to rest in His character and His promises in the midst of uncertainty with potential sequester impacts on our family.

Wes - Praise for God blessing Wes with the continued opportunities to share the gospel with his co-workers! Please pray John 6:44 for God to draw these men to Himself in salvation. Continued prayer for Matthew 5:13-16 that the Lord would help Wes to continue to be a strong light and witness for Christ at work in the midst of a very spiritually dark environment and also for spiritual protection (Ephesians 6:10-20). Also continued prayer for the Lord to grow Wes and impact his heart through his classes.

Christina - Praise for the Lord answering prayers for wisdom in parenting and and for growing me in the fruit of the Spirit. Prayer for James 1:5 for wisdom and discernment for teaching TNT girls (3rd-6th graders in AWANAs) every Sunday and 2 Timothy 2:15 that I would accurately handle & teach God's Word to them as well as to Noah & Josiah.

Noah - God would graciously save him at a young age and lead him to walk with the Lord all of his days, if that be the Lord's will. Praise for the Lord blessing us with 4 years with Noah! Praise for the Lord growing Noah in dealing with his anger in a way that honors God. Also, the Lord blessed us with a more peaceful month in parenting Noah, which is a refreshing blessing. Prayer for Ephesians 6:1-2 that God would help Noah to communicate in ways of asking rather than "telling us what to do" when he wants something.

Josiah - God would graciously save him at a young age and lead him to walk with the Lord all of his days, if that be the Lord's will. Our main prayer for Josiah continues to be for the Lord to draw Josiah to Himself in salvation (John 6:44). Praise for Josiah eating more from the bottle (and continuing to eat his solids too), which makes it easier for us to give him the nutrition that he needs.

Marriage Memories

We enjoyed hiking "The Incline" - which is now legal to hike - on our date day

Shot of The Incline = dirt line going up the mountain * Stats on the climb of The Incline

Even though the temp was warm when we hiked, this snowy Incline pic is similar to the kind of scene we encountered

Family Fun

Our fam

Valentines Day

Valentines Day Love Gifts
This year we started a new tradition of incorporating all of the "5 love languages" - quality time, gift, words of affirmation, service, and physical touch. We enjoyed our ongoing tradition of spending time together watching "Lady & the Tramp" movie & eating pizza. Gift = favorite candy. Words of Affirmation = homemade valentines. Service = doing another's responsibility. Physical touch = back rub.

Homemade Valentines - Wes' for me, mine for all 3, and Noah's for all 4 - he made one for himself too ;) * Colorful flowers Wes blessed me with

We went for a swim in the indoor heated pool at the YMCA - the boys in their trunks

Having fun * Snuggling & swimming

Desiring to be just like Daddy - Noah helping hang pictures ;)

Noah News

Age - 4 years old

Cute Communication -

*"Bro-skie" - a name of endearment for Josiah

*Bodily functions funnies -

-Giving a play-by-play - ex. "I burped... scuse [excuse] me."

-We had friends over for dinner, and Wes was commenting about things Josiah has been doing lately. Noah pipes up, "Lately I've been farting a lot." We're thankful our guests were more humored than uncomfortable. :)

*One of Wes' coworkers brought his Mastiff dog (Stray) over to show us, and Noah liked Stray but kept his distance. Wes told Noah, "Stray wants you to pet him." Noah solemnly replies, "I don't know about that."

*Noah says out loud what he is writing when he "writes." This probably comes from my doing this in order to help him understand that letters make up words.

*Noah has always & continues to be a very animated as he communicates with others - often using lots of flamboyant hand gestures. ;)

Latest Loves

Playing in the basement/forts & having pillow fights
Chewing gum
Whispering
$ - He's starting to grasp that "green paper" contains value ;)
Songs - "Joy to the World" & "Go Tell it On the Mountain" - they've continued to be favs after Christmas :)

Building/arranging cities with his legos, trucks, cars, people, etc.

Sound asleep ;)

Noah enjoys this visual timer we got (& use for a variety of purposes)

Blinks green for 60 min.-10 min.; blinks yellow for 10 - 1 min.; & blinks red for under 1 min.

*Video - making valentines for neighbors & friends

Josiah Joys

Age - 8 months

1sts - opening a drawer, playing in snow :) - At first, Josiah was curious about the snow and began exploring it. After realizing how cold it was, he was no longer interested.

Latest Loves

Reading books - he tries to turn the pages or eat them :)

Cell phones

Jumping in his Jolly Jumper

Screeching/squawking - often used as a way to respond when "conversing" with Wes, Noah, or me

Flavored puffs, goldfish, & fruit (especially blueberries)

Interesting Info

*Healthy boy - Josiah is already in 12 month clothing (& not due to height)! He is definitely a healthy boy. :)

Smiling slouch - No matter how much I prop him up, he's a sloucher in his high chair

Enjoying opening & closing a kitchen drawer

*Video - Josiah's famous "whaps"

Bro Bonding

Triple trouble ;)

Having fun in the snow * Snuggles & silliness

*Video - Bros "squawking" at each other

Josiah was just as loud & frequent as big bro until I turned the camera on - you'll still get the idea :)

Homeschool Highlights

This month we did a unit study on presidents with a focus on George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, & Barak Obama. Our study included books such as "If You Grew Up with George Washington" and "Truth & Rumors about U.S. Presidents" (fyi - I paper-clipped together a few pages in this book that contained content that was not necessarily age appropriate), variety of crafts, president money recognition games, and discussing biblical principles of governmental authority - how God is in control of who leads our country and ultimately He is the One in charge of our country (Proverbs 21:1, Psalm 47:8, Romans 13:1-7, & 1 Peter 2:13-17).

George Washington mask craft we completed with one of Noah's friends - Noah, me, & Naomi :)

A fun little celebration on Abraham Lincoln's birthday - "Top hat" donut in honor of Abe * Noah enjoying eating it

Sharing Some Love - Valentines Crafts

Arts & crafts skills - finger painting valentines for neighbors & friends

Life skill (cooking) & fine motor skills (frosting) - making red velvet whoopee pie cookies

Gluing & practicing writing (w/ help) - Noah glued the paper note on the back of his finger painted valentines, and together we signed them. We put a couple whoopee pies in snack sized baggies & taped the valentine to the baggie.

Social skills - We had a valentines exchange with other homeschool children at our church. We also delivered the valentine goodies to neighbors & some other friends. Noah really enjoyed both of these activities! Hopefully others were blessed by the goodies but even more by the good news of the gospel on the note about the greatest love of all - Christ's sacrificial love in which He died on the cross for our sins.

Excited to enjoy all the valentine fun from his friends

Fun with shapes - clay * brownies

Noah is starting to write on his own - J (reversed) * E with a diamond/kite :) * number two

Memorable Moment of the Month

Noah turned 4 on February 25th!

Birthday Party

Noah all excited for partying with some of his friends the Friday before (22nd) since Wes was off work

Noah wanted a Lego party including a green, Lego (confetti) cake with LOTS of sprinkles ;)

The party animals :) - Adah, Grace, Luke, Sam, Noah, Abby, & Owen

A couple more friends who joined in the fun later on - Selah & Thane :)

Birthday boy enjoying his cake & ice cream

Games - Lego sorting girls vs. boys (girls won solidly both times) * Red-Red-Blue (spinoff of Duck-Duck-Goose)

Free play in the basement on one of Noah's forts * Josiah partyin' it up in his Jolly Jumper ;)

Afterward the 4 of us went out to eat & play at ITZ - Driving with Mommy * Air Hockey with Daddy

On Noah's Actual Birthday

Breakfast in Bed - Noah asked for birthday cake, cinnamon sugar toast, applesauce, & chocolate milk
Noah ate & opened his gifts before Wes left for work.

4 years old!!! * Our gift for Noah - transportation clock (that fits his room) with alarm that turns green on the stoplight when he can get up & come out of his room. He was super excited about it & was very bummed when we had to send it back for a replacement since it didn't work. :(