Adventures in Our Home & Hearts: "Winter" Fun

Giving God Glory

God's Great Wisdom & Power - With more activity with our home in January, it has been very comforting for us to know that not only does God know if it is wiser for us to stay or move, but He also has the power to make the wisest choice indeed happen according to His will. We are very thankful that we do not have to figure out what is the wisest scenario for our family! God will make the wisest scenario happen! God's wisdom and power have given us great peace in the midst of what could be a roller coaster of emotions with having callings for showings, preparing our home for showings, encountering cancellations, anticipating feedback from showings, having a 2nd showing in the same day, wondering if we should invest time in "shopping around" for a home, etc. Proverbs 20:24 - Man's steps are ordained by the LORD, how then can man understand his way?

What's on the Harrisons' Hearts
Truth on Trials - We really enjoyed some meaty and practical teaching on trials in Sunday School this month from our Associate Pastor. Here are the highlights of truth:

God's 2 Purposes in Trials: (these will always be accomplished)
1. Bring glory and honor to Himself - ex. John 9:1-3
2. For our good/growth - Romans 8:28-30

9 Possible Reasons for Trials:
1. Unconfessed sin - ex. Acts 5:1-11
2. Chastise/discipline us in order to call us back to Himself - Hebrews 12:5-11
3. Increase our usefulness - John 15:2
4. Help us long for heaven and let go of holding on too tightly to this world - Romans 5:12, 8:22-24
5. Show us that our sin has an effect on others - ex. Joshua 7:1
6. Reveal to us where we have placed our hope/love/affections other than on the Lord - Matthew 22:34-40
7. Teach us our own weaknesses and cause us to depend on Him - 2 Corinthians 1:8-9
8. Test and strengthen our faith - Romans 5:1-5
9. Bring us back to biblical community - Hebrews 10:19-24

3 Ways to Handle a Trial:
1. Rebel - Romans 12:17-21
2. Survive - ex. Naomi in Ruth
3. Embrace God's plan and respond biblically by:
   #1 Trusting God - Psalm 4; Proverbs 3:5-6
   #2 Searching our hearts for sin - Psalm 139:23-24
   #3 Focusing on God's past faithfulness - Psalm 77:11-15
   #4 Turning to the Scriptures - 2 Timothy 3:16-17
   #5 Seeking to serve others (rather than self) - Romans 12:21
   #6 Putting yourself in the path of others (sharing your struggles) - ex. 2 Corinthians 1:8

Praises & Prayers
Friend in WI - Praise for God blessing him with a new job and continued prayer for the Lord to provide the additional income their family needs.
Friend in CO Springs - Prayer for God's will to be done with possibly moving and finding jobs in another state.
Brett (cousin) & Wendy (sister) - Praise for the Lord protecting them from injury the past several months of training and for blessing them with running very well in a marathon in AZ.
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 be done.
Our Family - 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 - Praise for the Lord giving Wes wisdom in balancing his priorities in this season of life as a child of God, husband, father, firefighter, and student.
Christina - Prayer for the Lord to continue to grow me in loving Him, Wes, and Noah well.
Noah - God would graciously save him at a young age if that be His will. Praise for God growing Noah in being "a good and faithful servant" by cleaning up his toys and spills. Also, praise for God growing Noah in trying to talk more and communicate in ways that honor Him and help others. Continued prayer for Noah's communication, for patience in listening to Noah, and for wisdom in discerning what he is saying. Also, prayer for wisdom in teaching Noah how to obey without delay (Ephesians 6:1-3) since presently he has been testing us with procrastinating with his obedience.

Marriage Memories

Taking it Easy - We enjoyed a relaxing date night this month of dinner and a movie. Wes had been sick the week leading up to our date night, so we figured this would be a nice way to enjoy time with each other without wearing Wes out. We saw The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Trader and enjoyed eating a delicious meal at Olive Garden.

Family Fun

Fam fun at Chick-Fil-A

Daddy's New Do - Wes has officially decided the buzz is where it's at and that there's no turning back. Here he is showing off his new do and his big guns. :) He tells me that he likes it when I call him my "tatoo thug." Those words don't sound very endearing to me, but I'll cater to my macho man if that's what does it for him.

Wes said he would never... - let our children play at the mall play area because it was too germ-infested. He said that before we had any children, and his perspective has changed since Noah is now an active and energetic toddler. So, we've enjoyed a little family shopping and playing at the mall on some of the cold, winter days this past month.

Noah checking it all out and sliding down the snow slide

Teaching piano - Selah's mom asked if I would be interested in giving Selah piano lessons. I had dappled a little with teaching piano with another girl (8 years old) and had enjoyed it, but I was curious (as well as other piano teachers I talked to for advice, though they were more on the skeptical side) to see how piano lessons would go with a 4-year-old. However, Selah is no ordinary 4-year-old because she is super sharp! I found a young piano curriculum that is perfect for her, and sure enough, she is doing fabulous so far. We are both having a great time!

More popcorn please! - Wes and I enjoy splurging on popcorn every now and then, and now Noah enjoys eating popcorn with us too!

Great Helper - Noah is a wonderful helper in so many ways in our home. Here's his latest way of helping...

Our Little Chef - We always enjoy cooking together as a family, and Noah has become quite the little chef now. :)

Jump Around - Noah has a blast jumping on his trampoline from Grandpa J and Grandma Masters. It's actually an adult mini-trampoline, so Wes and I enjoy jumping with Noah too!

Welcoming Warm Weather - We have enjoyed some days of 50's and 60's in the midst of our normal (aka cold) winter temps, so we have definitely made the most of these days to get outside and enjoy the outdoors!

Playing at the park

Biking

Home Sweet Home Update - We had a slow start with averaging 1 showing per month for October, November, and December. January has been a surprise because we had at least 10 calls for showings (with some cancellations), one 2nd showing (came in morning and wanted to come back that evening), and one week with 6 calls for showings within five days. Everyone loves our home, but each client has a desire that we have no control over such as wanting a basement, wanting more acreage, not wanting fees with being part of a recreation center and HOA community, etc. So still no offers, but we are thankful for our home sweet home and have even been dreaming of ways to make it even "sweeter" for our fam if we do not sell. :)

Other Fun Memories Around Our Home -

New Year's Day - Helping put decor away and sadly waving bye-bye to the Christmas tree

Noah's 1st time finger painting - he loved it!

Messing around with Sierra

Mommy & son (sporting Daddy's hat)

Daddy & son chillaxin' together in their "La-Z-boys"

Noah enjoys his mini-me "La-Z-boy" from Grandpa & Grandma Rush

Noah News

Age - 23 Months

1sts - opening & making a deposit in his ihike account, spitting (in time out), significant scab (notice in the pic), finger painting, "pounding" / "bumping," working out with weights, flexing his muscles :)

New Words - *Communicating with words really started to click this month! :) God (Gaw), hot (ha), hi, ball (bah), there (dah), bus, (bu), milk (ma), done (duh); Favorite word = no - and we're trying to break him of this quickly ;)

Latest Loves
Reading (his Family Book is his present fav)
Pics of fam - book, calendar, fridge
Coloring
Baths - especially with lots of bubbles & measuring cups
Showing us baby Jesus from Little People nativity set
His pillows! (especially his frog pillow pet)
Making piles - of clothes, blankets, etc.
Outside
Running, climbing, biking, playing at the park
Helping cook & clean
His "Noah" chair
Wearing Daddy's hats
Shoveling snow
Jumping on his trampoline
"This Little Piggy" while being chased the entire song

Passed out under his pillow pet from Grandpa & Grandma Harrison

I'm ready to make my 1st deposit in my fun $ ihike account!

Waving from one of his piles & Enjoying his suds

"Jesus is God"

Noah has a Little People nativity set from Great Papa & Great Tache.

Noah likes to get out baby Jesus, so we taught him that Jesus is God.

Now he likes to tell us! :)

Other Intriguing Info

*Family recognition - Noah really enjoys looking at his Family Book that Auntie Kristen made him (with labeled pictures of all our extended family). He loves it when we "drill" him in pointing to various family members after we say their name, and he is good at it!

*Teething? Or testing us? - Noah has 4 teeth on the brink of popping through, so when his tantrums, whining, crying, etc. increased a lot this month in frequency and intensity, it was challenging to discern if he was amping it up in testing us or simply teething. Obviously, there is no excuse for the previous behavior, but effectively discerning the root issue does help in determining how to respond wisely and appropriately. He's kept us guessing to some extent since his teeth take a looonnnggg time to work themselves out.

*Hip hip hooray! - Noah loves to clap/cheer for himself when he decides to obey, when he completes a task (putting his toys away, cleaning up a spill, etc.), when he does pretty much anything he thinks is worthy for applause - and we love joining in clapping/cheering for him too, especially when it comes to obedience. :)

*Nursery reputation - Noah has been described with a couple more adjectives by those who care for him in nursery: "stoic and pensive." Interesting... We are intrigued of what God has in store for him...

*Changes in coloring - Our little artist has been growing in his motor skills over the past month and is changing up his artistic flair in his coloring...

from pounding to...

scribbling

*Double "C" (Cheesin' it up & looking Cute) - I think the pics say it all...

Memorable Moment of the Month

Our Little Houdini - Noah has mastered the art of escaping from his pack-n-play. He figured this out one day during time out...

I noticed it got quiet in the room where Noah was in time out, which happens sometimes. Then I heard a little thud, and he erupted into some serious crying. I rushed into the room thinking he was hurt, and there he was standing up on the floor outside of his pack-n-play with tears streaming down his face (not due to injury but due to fear that he was going to be in big trouble for his little stunt). It took all my strength to keep a serious face and state matter of fact, "You're not supposed to climb out of time out, are you. That's another minute." I calmly put him back in, closed the door, ran to the kitchen, and burst out laughing. :)

More Memories