Adventures in Our Home & Hearts: Summer fun

*I am enjoying catching up on blogging. Since I have several months still to do, please take note of the date (month) in the blog post title rather than the date I posted. Also, you'll notice I tried to write like I would have at the present time of the post rather than writing like it was many months ago.

Giving God Glory
The sweetness of resting in God's sovereignty - The mind of man plans his way, but the LORD directs His steps. Proverbs 16:19 Many plans are in a man's heart, but the counsel of the LORD will stand. Proverbs 19:21 During this season of desiring more children and not knowing if the Lord has more children for us, it is comforting to meditate on God's sovereignty. It is truly sweet to rest in knowing that He is in control, that He is directing our steps as we pursue seeing if there is a possible medical cause for my miscarriages and as we begin pursuing adoption, that He is all-wise and knows what is best, and that His counsel and His best will stand.

What's on the Harrisons' Hearts

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

Testing update - July 19th was my first appointment to begin the process of seeing if there is a possible medical cause for my miscarriages, and after that appointment, we decided to seek a different doctor. So, August 2nd is the next appointment, and we will start the process over with a different doctor. We continue to seek the Lord's wisdom during this season of waiting, and we continue to rest in His sovereignty over every aspect of the medical process.
Our new adventure - We recently decided to take the first step in starting to research adoption. We have no idea where the Lord is going to lead us with this new adventure (or even if He will indeed lead us to adopt), but we are excited at how we already see Him at work in our hearts. Since adoption is a long process, we figured it would probably we wise to start looking into it. We are grateful that the Lord has blessed us with unity (because we know not all couples are on the same page with adoption) for beginning to pursue if the Lord will lead us to grow our family this way. There are so many unknowns, what ifs, questions about what would be best for our family, cautions with not wanting to force something that may not be God's will for us or may not be God's timing, etc. We are seeking to trust the Lord with all our hearts and not lean on our own understanding. We are also seeking for Him to make our path and His plans for our family straight and clear as we seek to acknowledge Him to others throughout the process - family, friends, neighbors, and whoever He leads us to.

Praises & Prayers
Friend in CO Springs - Praise for providing the job my friend was desiring at the last minute.
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.
Truett - Praise for the Lord Truett's heart surgery being successful!
Our Family - Praise for unity with looking into adoption. Prayer for God's will to be done with miscarriage testing and possibly adopting (Luke 22:4b). Prayer for wisdom, discernment, and clear test results either way for the doctors and wisdom for us as we look into adoption (James 1:7). Also, prayer for us to trust the Lord with all our hearts and to faithfully acknowledge Him, glorify Him, and share the gospel at every opportunity He gives us (Proverbs 3:5-6).
Wes - Praise for the Lord giving Wes wisdom in leading our family with decisions involved with medical testing and looking into adoption.
Christina - Praise for the Lord growing me in loving Him with my whole heart. Prayer for the Lord to grow me in submitting to Wes in everything as to the Lord - Ephesians 5:22, 24. (Wes is a great leader! It's my flesh that wants to control that is the struggle).
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 helping Noah to grow in forgiving others. Prayer for wisdom in teaching/re-teaching Noah how to share his toys with others (particularly with our neighborhood boys) - Acts 4:32.

Marriage Memories

Growing closer together through trials - Trials can drive a couple apart or grow a couple closer together than they have ever been. During this season of having an unfulfilled desire of more children, there are times we are both trusting God and resting in Him, and there are other times our "flesh" flares up with discontentment, worry, coveting how God is blessing others, trying to control, taking out frustration on each other, or other forms of temptation. We are thankful that our marriage is founded on Christ, for He lovingly draws us to Himself and His truth as well as drawing us closer to each other when we start living in our flesh rather than in the Spirit. Thank You, Lord!

Family Fun

Having fun at Garden of the Gods

Making memories at the firestation when Wes worked an overtime shift

We got dumped on this month! - Playing in the rain * Splashing Daddy * Soaked Sierra with spiked hair

Dave, Wes, & Noah riding on Dave's motorcycle

Firestation Community Outreach - Old school firetruck * Checking out the big gun * Noah set off the sirens in the police car

Noah News

Age - 2
Cute Communication - Noah says "No-no _____" when he wants something or to do something. For example, when he spots a motorcycle, he says, "No-no mo-mo" because he wants to go see the motorcycle up close. He is also on a kick to end words with "o" = Daddy-o, See-see-o (Sierra), etc.

Latest Loves
Building forts
Woo-woos (aka firetrucks) - Noah says goodbye to the firetrucks when we leave the firestation - "bye bye woo-woo"
Jumping off of things ex. stairs, porch, couch
Organizing (objects, toys, etc.)
Smoothies ("smoo-moo")
Racing (ex. up the stairs, to get something, etc.)
Drinking out of various water bottles
Giving dogs kisses - he asks to give Sierra a kiss before bed ;)
Toddler time at the library - organized time of singing songs, reading books, etc.

Organizing plates * Noah wanted to see how many socks he could wear ;) * Enjoying Daddy's big water bottle

Noah's forts - Basement * Blankets * Garage

Noah jibber-jabbering & saying his full name (with a little prompting)

Other Intriguing Info

*Orientation smarts - Noah has been showing off his direction/orientation skills... Whenever we drive near by Adam & Wendy's house, he points in the direction of their home and asks for Ah-ah, Weh-Weh, & Bo-bo. He also does this with the Wyss fam, and when we are near where they live, he asks for Kate, Mare-mare, Tru-tru, & Bo (sorry Brett - we're working getting you in there too). Noah only has to go to someone's home once to have the direction/orientation in his memory.

*New nickname - One of Noah's neighbor friends calls him "Vanilla." ;) I like it...Noah's sweet like vanilla. Noah calls him J.J. (Jacob).

Memorable Moment of the Month
Fun with WI Fam - Dad & Autumn came to visit for 5 days. It was Autumn's first time to CO, so we had fun showing her around CO Springs. We had a great time making many wonderful memories together with them! :) We love you two!