Home Sweet Home - September

Giving God Glory
Working for His Glory and Our Good - Since Noah's arrival in February 2009, we have been praying for the Lord to grow our family with more children in His perfect timing and ways.  Wes and I got to thinking one day that the past couple months the Lord has been growing our "family" in an out-of-the-box kind of way through investing in children's lives (though they are not "our own" children or living in our home 24-7) through serving in AWANAs and nursery at our church and through a childcare opportunity He brought our way.  We are thankful for the privilege of loving children and teaching them about the Lord, even if they are not officially our own children.  God knows what plans will bring Him the most glory and accomplish the most good in our lives and so far this is His answer to our prayers.  Romans 8:28 - And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.


Praises & Prayers
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 safe travel and a blessed time with family in WI.  Continued prayers for wisdom and for God to take care of the details with possibly trying to sell our home.  Continued prayer for God's perfect timing and ways of growing our family.
Wes - Praise for Wes enjoying his break from class.  Continued praise for how the Lord is growing Wes' co-worker that he has the privilege of discipling.
Me - Praise for the Lord bringing healing and restoration to my body. Praise for a blessed time of fellowship on our church's women's retreat.
Noah - God would graciously save him at a young age if that be His will.  Praise for God giving us wisdom and giving Noah a teachable spirit (overall) in training Noah what obedience looks like.  He rarely avoids obeying by turning it into a game anymore.  Prayer for our latest opportunity to train Noah in using words instead of whining to communicate.  Praise for Noah doing well with all our traveling to and from WI by cars, planes, and shuttles.


What's on the Harrison's Hearts
Home Sweet Home - Our home truly is our Home Sweet Home, and we appreciate so many aspects that make it sweet to us - open layout, great condition, nice landscaping (thanks to Wes!), plenty of room for us, easy to clean due to its smaller size, great payment due to refinancing earlier in the year, kind neighbors, many children for Noah to play with on our street, park and walking trails nearby, recreation center with pools and workout room, grocery stores within 5 minutes...we are truly blessed and grateful!  We had talked about moving in 5-7 years to a more convenient location in CO Springs - closer to Wes' work and our church - but a conversation with my sister, Wendy, got us curious if it may be God's timing for us to move now due to the low interest rates and some good short sale/foreclosure deals available.  So, we put our home sweet home on the market free of charge with a contract of 6 months to see how God may lead us and what His timing is for us.  Time will tell...

Our 1st Home Sweet Home

It's Official!  Our home is on the market!

Pondering Prayer - I love to pray and talk to my heavenly Father!  Though, sometimes it crosses my mind...why do I pray?  The Lord brought some wonderful reminders my way this month of His purposes in prayer - 
"Prayer is God's foreordained path to fulfilling His foreordained plans that accomplish His foreordained purposes." Austin Bluffs E-Free Church
"Prayer is getting ourselves in tune with God and not getting God in tune with us."  Oswald Chambers


Homeschooling Our Student Wannabe - Noah already loves to learn!  He sees me tutoring and working with children in our home, and he wants to participate too!  With discussing possibly moving, Wes and I also discussed desires for Noah's schooling in the future.  At this point, we decided we want to pursue homeschooling Noah due to my being a certified teacher, Wes' schedule such that he will be able to help, flexibility for our family's schedule, being able to disciple Noah more effectively by having more time with him and the ability to take advantage of all the teachable moments that arise, plus I want to invest in Noah and to have the privilege of teaching him (and I don't think I would enjoy having him gone so much after he turned 5!)  We plan to be very intentional, strategic, and proactive in making sure he has plenty of social and extracurricular opportunities.  I'm excited! :)

All smiles & ready to learn!

Marriage Memories
Double Date in the Dells - While we were in WI, Aaron (Wes' brother) and his wife Kim treated us to a very nice dinner in the Wisconsin Dells, and they made sure I got to enjoy some crab legs.  Mmmm!  Everything was delicious, and we had a wonderful date night with them and appreciate their generosity!  Thanks Brodeezie and Sisdeezie! :)

Family Fun
Labor Day - We enjoyed an afternoon of fun at Fox Run Park - playing at the playground, tossing the football, going on a little hike, and splashing around in a pond.

Playing in the pond

Life Group - Our church has Life Groups (similar to Bible studies and small groups) that consist of fellowship, prayer, and Bible study discussion based on the sermon from the previous Sunday.  We joined a Life Group recently and have been enjoying getting to know more of the people at our church.


More Ministry Opportunities: Meals & Nursery - The Lord has been blessing family and friends around us with precious little ones, so we have been enjoying celebrating with them by taking them a meal as well as gifts after the arrival of their bundles of joy.  
     We also started serving once a month in the toddler nursery; we figured it was a way to keep "tabs" on Noah's behavior in social settings. Just kidding...there was a need, so Wes agreed to tag-team serve together, even though he will openly admit it is stretching for him to be surrounded by 15-20 toddlers wandering around aimlessly with runny noses and grunting when they want something. ;)  


The Big 10 - Wes received a certificate for 10 years of federal service.  He enlisted in the military in 2000, got out of the military in 2004, and has been working as a civilian ever since.  Only 18 more years until he's eligible to retire, though Wes says it feels like it's an eternity. 


Women's Retreat - I was blessed to be able to go on a 3 day/2 night women's retreat in the mountains with some wonderful women at our church.  Thanks to Adam and Wendy as well as our good neighbor, Kirsten, who took fabulous care of Noah!  It was a good time of fellowship, Biblical teaching, and fun, and I felt very refreshed when I arrived home.  Several of us went hiking and were able to see some of God's beauty in the colorful Aspens.

 Beautiful Hike

Roommates - Kate & Tangie

Noah News

Age - 19 Months

1sts - Eating with a spoon and fork, texting ;) , splashing in a pond, climbing objects and furniture, pointing to more body parts - tummy, feet, ears, and nose

# of Teeth - 8 - 4 on top & 4 on bottom (1 canine on top)

New Words Noah is Saying - Please (pah pah), up (Mup up), yeah (after any and all questions)

Latest Loves

Playing with/pouring water

High 5's

Giving hugs 

Receiving back massages

Helping Daddy wash the car

Climbing in and out of objects (ex. drawers)

Shoes

Stepping on and off his little step stool
Playing with trucks
Throwing various kinds of balls
Bouncing on his big, orange ball
Walking around with clothing, towels, pillowcases, etc. covering his head

Hugging & Texting

 I fit!

 Helping Daddy wash the car & Walking around covered with a pillow case

Noah's "Yeah" after questions

Other Intriguing Info

*Goodnight Kiss Game - Noah loves giving and getting his goodnight kisses from Daddy and me before naps/bedtime.  However, the past month our little sense of humor son started playing games with us where he will lay down and laugh when we say, "Kiss for Daddy/Mommy."  We stall a little, and then finally when we start to head out the door (or sometimes not until after the door is shut), he jumps up and starts wailing for his kisses.  At times it's precious and melts your heart, and every once in a while it gets a little annoying playing along with his little game.  However, these memories and quickly-fleeting phases are so special and will always be treasured by us. :)


Memorable Moment of the Month

Making Memories with Loved Ones in WI - We had a wonderful time visiting our family and friends in Wisconsin.  We made so many precious memories that we captured in pictures, and I wish I could post all of them here.  So, I'll try my best to only hit the highlights. :)

Siblings & Spouses

Aaron & Kim, Wes & Me, Amanda (Paul - MIA), & Autumn

Cousins - Camren, Noah, & Abby

Grandpa tickling Noah

Grandma & Noah

Cousin hug - Abby & Noah

Uncle Paul, Noah, & Cousin Camren

Bros showing off their big guns

Wes & Niece Abby

Wes, Nephew Camren, & Noah

Christina, Amanda, & Brayden :)

Having fun with fam at the Children's Museum

Having fun with friends (Aspinalls) too!

Abby, Shawn, & Sharon - sorry I didn't get you too, Matt!

Noah having a blast in the water room!

A Not So Enjoyable Memorable Moment When We Returned Home - Our friends, Josh and Dinorah, blessed us by watching Honey and Sierra while we were in WI.  Their dogs get along great with our dogs, so we thought everything would work out well.  Well...when Wes went over to pick our dogs up, he found out that Honey had killed their cat.  I thought it was the final straw, but Honey somehow still has a piece of Wes' heart.  Wes continues to debate on whether to pound or persevere with Honey...  He has even tried a couple times to take Honey to the Humane Society or to give her to other organizations, and it hasn't worked out so far.  So, I guess Sierra still has her buddy for now.