Adventures in Our Home & Hearts: Taking the Plunge into Potty Training

*I am enjoying catching up on blogging, and I am almost there! :) 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
Our Faithful God - This I recall to mind, therefore I have hope. The LORD's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I have hope in Him." The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him. Lamentations 3:21-25 Even though we had hoped the Lord would make the direction He has for us clear in whether He is leading us to adopt or not, the Lord has shown Himself faithful in answering prayers for wisdom. He is presently leading us to wait upon Him. He may still lead us to adopt in His timing...He may give us a child through us...He may lead us to continue to be a family of 3... We do not know, but what we do know is that He knows - and that is all we need to know and what we are seeking to rest in. Lamentations 3:21-25 has been encouraging to meditate on the Lord's faithfulness to us, how He is our portion, how our hope is to be in Him, and the importance of seeking Him above all else. Therefore, we can have true hope (that is greater than our circumstances and desires) in the One that is worthy of our hope.

What's on the Harrisons' Hearts
God's Faithfulness to Our Family - It has been encouraging to reflect on God's past faithfulness to our family because it gives me greater confidence in God's faithfulness for the present and future. A few key testimonies that have been resonating in my mind include: how 6 years ago the Lord began uniting Wes (from WI) and my (from KS) lives in His perfect timing and ways (in CO Springs); how 5 years ago the Lord blessed me with a teaching job near where Wes and I lived in Falcon (at what seemed like the last minute to us) one week before school started; how 2.5 years ago the Lord blessed us with a precious miracle of our son, Noah; how 5 months ago the Lord sold our home in a tough market 1 week after we took it off the market; and how recently the Lord strategically placed us into a neighborhood of many wonderful people who the Lord has been working through us to draw them to Himself in greater ways.

Final Testing Update - All of the additional tests that we thought it was beneficial to pursue came back normal (including Factor 5, other proteins, genetic/chromosome testing on the baby from my D & C, and the test for MTHFR - which is the hereditary blood disorder that my relative has) except for one test. I do have a variation (copy) of MTHFR, but it only puts me at a slight risk of a miscarriage, and there is not really anything they do to treat it. So, there does not appear to be a medical cause for my miscarriages. This is a big praise that I am healthy and everything is normal! It is also a little challenging in that there is not really any clarification to whether the Lord wants us to wait for Him to bless us with more children through us or if the Lord is using these miscarriages to encourage us to go in the direction of adopting, which we would have never pursued if we had not had multiple miscarriages... So, we will see how He leads us as we wait upon Him for direction in which way He wants us to go.

Praises & Prayers
Neighbors - Praise for the Lord continuing to work in some of our neighbors' hearts. One of them bought a Bible for herself to read, and another one started going to church and is enjoying it.
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 the Lord growing our family in biblical peacemaking skills through our Peacemaker Sunday School class. Praise for the medical tests coming back normal for me. Praise for the Lord answering prayer for wisdom - that we are to wait upon Him and seek Him above all else. Praise for God giving us peace and freedom in resting in His sovereignty over our family's future. Praise for our precious son, Noah, and for the Lord already abundantly blessing us with him. Continued prayer for God's will to be done and for wisdom and discernment for us with possibly adopting (Luke 22:4b & James 1:5). Also, prayer for us to to seek first His kingdom and righteousness and to continue to bless us with opportunities to glorify Him and testify to others about Him through this trial (Matthew 6:33-34).
Wes - Continued prayer for the Lord to give Wes wisdom in leading our family with the decision of whether to adopt or not. Also, continued prayer for wisdom with priorities, discipline, and heart impact through this semester of classes at FRBI.
Christina - Praise for the Lord encouraging me with His past faithfulness for the present and our future. Continued praise and continued prayer for the Lord to guard my heart (Proverbs 4:23) and to help me live each day fully for Him.
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 growing Noah in realizing his place under God's authority and Daddy and Mommy's authority. Prayer for wisdom in teaching/re-teaching Noah that he cannot have our attention 24/7 and for the Lord to give him patience during those times he needs to wait for us to finish something (Galatians 5:22). (For example, Noah likes to say "Help please" even when he doesn't really need help and is just wanting our attention. We are teaching him to say "Watch please" or "Play please" instead so that we know he is fine and can respond appropriately in giving him the attention he desires when we are able.

Marriage Memories

Though we do not always see "eye to eye"...

...we thank the Lord for how He faithfully protects our marriage and always brings us back to lovingly "gazing into each others' eyes."

Through this season of pursuing adoption, we are thankful for how the Lord has kept our marriage and family centered on Christ in the midst of this major decision. We know that keeping our marriage strong is one of the most critical callings the Lord has for Wes and me. So we thank Him for keeping us united and for continuing to grow us in our love for Him and each other!

Family Fun

We continually thank the Lord for our fam of 3 and seek to enjoy each day the Lord blesses us with each other! :)

Ok...ok...so we actually enjoy our fam of 4! ;)

Precious memories with our precious son

Our fam having fun!

Life Group - The Lord blessed us with the opportunity to host a Life Group (small group) Bible study and fellowship this year. We are grateful for our unfinished basement that has been a good place for the children to play during our time of discussion and prayer. Our Life Group consists of many couples / young families, and we enjoy opening our home each week in a way that blesses others.

Noah News

Age - 2.5 years old
1sts - potty training, counting to 10 on his own (1-5...8-10), strep on his bottom :( , initiating the guess the hand game, sentence - "Noah see cat."
Cute communication - "Set go!" Noah loves to cue us to play such as to chase him, to race up the stairs, etc. Instead of saying, "Ready, set, go" he likes saying, "Set go!" :)

Latest Loves
Reading (present favs are nursery rhymes & action rhymes - he likes to sing along as best as he can & do his own little motions)
Singing (present fav song = "Roll Over" (10 in the bed)
Coloring!!!! (especially in his trucks coloring book)
Chalk
Making "trains" out of his trucks & cars
Climbing into his carseat by himself
Playing outside (especially with his neighborhood friends)
Being tossed by Daddy

Our sweet & fun-loving son

Noah's "Set go!"

You can softly hear Noah saying "Set go!" to cue Wes to throw him up again. :)

Other Interesting Info
*Growing in his understanding of God - When I pick Noah up from church childcare, I ask him what he learned about God, and one day he actually answered me by pointing up and saying "God in hea-hea (heaven)." We talked some more about God being in heaven, and then Noah says, "No-no (Noah) hea-hea (heaven)." I asked him if he wanted to go to heaven someday and shared the gospel with him in a very simple way. Wes and I look forward to many more of these kinds of conversations to come! :)
* "Oh no!" - One night while some friends were over, a girl a little older than Noah got into some things that Noah knows he is not supposed to. When I came across the scene, I strongly said, "Oh no!" Well, that definitely made an impression on Noah, and the next day he kept pointing to the room this scene occurred in and continued to say, "Oh, no!" in a very perplexed tone and then went on to re-tell me everything that had happened.

Memorable Moment of the Month

Taking the Plunge into Potty Training - Due to realizing that Noah would need to be potty trained for moving into the 3's room at church and a couple signs that he may be ready for doing his business on the potty, we decided to take the plunge into trying to train him. We took the concentrated approach (focused solely on training in 3 days), and it paid off. Noah caught on quickly and was highly motivated by caw-caw ;) - aka chocolate. He has #1 down and consistently stays clean and dry during naps and at night. #2...not so much...we'll see when he becomes motivated about that. :) The most memorable moment was having him put underwear on his bear and moose and then checking them at times to see if they were clean and dry. He got really excited about checking them (probably because he got rewarded along with them, and they were always clean and dry).

More Memories