Adventures in Our Home & Hearts: Children are a gift & an opportunity for growth! ~ May 2015

Giving God Glory

15-year-old's death reminder of our God of hope ~ Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 ~ This month Ellie, a sister of one of the boys and also one of the girls Wes and I work with in AWANA, died unexpectedly after suffering for two weeks from migraines, nausea, and swelling in her brain. A good friend we serve with in AWANA discovered a blogpost from Ellie's grandpa that was well written. His words about Ellie's faith in Jesus Christ and how she lived for Him were very encouraging to me. What he shared was also a good reminder of our God of hope and our future hope of eternal life with Him, for those who trust in Jesus Christ to save them from their sins by grace through faith in Him (Ephesians 2:8-9). The following contains excerpts from his post ~

Obituary for my beloved granddaughter, Ellie
by Bob Adelmann

On Friday morning, the 8th of May, Elizabeth Jayne Adelmann slipped from this world into the loving arms of her Savior, Jesus Christ. Ellie would have turned 16 on June 29, 2015. During her short life, her words and actions were marked with a genuine love for people and her infectious smile and brightness. Ellie’s greatest joy was sharing the love Christ had placed in her heart with everyone she met. She shared Christ through all her interests including speech club, ballet, horses, piano, camping and making things beautiful around her. She had an incredible gift for brightening the hardest days with her cheerful smile and treating everyone she knew like they were her favorite person, because each was truly her favorite. Despite her struggles with diabetes and celiac disease, she had an indomitable spirit and an unshakeable faith in the goodness of God. She could often be found singing her favorite hymn “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing”. Her favorite passage of Scripture was Psalm 23. She loved much and trusted easily.

Ellie is survived by her parents, Russ and Sarah Adelmann, her brothers, Will, Tim and Tommy, and her sister Maggie...

In the end, she suffered from a short, intense struggle with an infection in her brain. We would all like to thank the doctors and nurses at Denver Children’s Hospital for their tireless efforts to preserve her life and for their kindness and honesty throughout the course of her treatment.

Ellie will be dearly missed by so many. We are all blessed to have known Ellie and shared life with her. We look forward to the day when we are all reunited in Christ. Through all of this, He is our only hope and our firm foundation...

For the same assurance in Heaven that Ellie has, please read the Gospel of John.

What's on the Harrisons' Hearts

Children are a gift & an opportunity for growth! ~

Children are a gift!

Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Psalm 127:3

With Mother's Day this month and reflecting on our 4 miscarriages (since some friends of ours experienced their 3rd miscarriage and we've been praying for them and having conversations with them about how both of our families have sought to trust the Lord in the midst of these losses), we have been continually thanking the Lord for blessing us with the gifts of our 3 precious sons! One of our pastors came across a book about having a Biblical and gospel-centered perspective on miscarriages called Inheritance of Tears, which I've never come across a book like this. I think Jessalyn Hutto did an excellent job with this heavy and difficult subject, and I highly recommend this book to anyone who has experienced a miscarriage(s) or desires to come alongside women who have. One of my favorite quotes of Hutto's is: "Cursing God amid tragedy is natural...unless we know Him. That's the key. For if we know God as our Father who is ever good and wise and loving, we can trust Him, truly and deeply, even in the most difficult of circumstances."

Children are an opportunity for growth!

We will not conceal them [God's Word & testimonies] from their children, but tell to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and His strength and His wondrous works that He has done... which He commanded our fathers that they should teach them to their children, that the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born, that they may arise and tell them to their children, that they should put their confidence in God and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments. Psalm 78:4-7

With dedicating Samuel at church on Mother's Day this month, we have been reminded of the challenges and commitments that are part of seeking to faithfully teach our boys (and also the coming generations) the gospel and be an example to them of what it looks like to know, love, and serve Jesus Christ. Oh Lord, have mercy on us and our children, for this can be a daunting and refining calling! Wes and I are only 6 years into parenting, and we already see so many ways the Lord has grown us and made us more like Christ! I am convinced the Lord has used our sons to teach us more than we have taught them! Below are some reminders of the challenges and commitments involved in parenting from an excerpt in a letter our pastor sent us about child dedication ~

Praises & Prayers

Friend - Continued prayer for a friend's father-in-law who was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor that is cancerous.

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. Prayer of Galatians 5:22-23 that the fruit of the Spirit would abound in Dad's & Tami's lives during this trial. Also, prayer of James 1:5 for wisdom with this trial.

Wes - Praise for the Lord giving Wes wisdom in getting in a good groove in this new season as a family. Please continue to pray for the Lord to give Wes wisdom, grace, and strength as he seeks to be faithful in his roles at home, work, and in ministry (James 1:5).
Christina - Praise for the Lord helping my body to heal and recover well from my C-section. Please continue to pray for wisdom, grace, strength, and contentment in this season of change and transitions (James 1:5).
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 loving his brothers, especially Josiah since Noah can sometimes get irritated with him and provoke him. I asked Noah what he would like loved ones to pray for him - "Would you please give me some choices?" After sharing several ideas with him, Noah decided, "That I would grow in my love for the Bible."

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. Praise for the Lord helping Josiah to stop communicating through bitting and hitting. Please pray for the Lord to grow Josiah in using his words to communicate instead of screaming when he doesn't like something (Psalm 19:14).

Samuel - 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 that Samuel comforts pretty quickly and easily when upset. Please pray for wisdom for us in comforting Samuel when his baby gas is painful (James 1:5).

Marriage Memories

Serving together in T&T ~ The Lord blessed us with the opportunity of serving together in AWANA this year as T&T directors. T&T (Truth & Training) is for 3rd-6th graders, which we really enjoy working with this age group! This year our theme was The Truthfulness & Usefulness of the Bible, since 3 of the top 5 questions of this age group involves the reliability of the Bible, and we also wanted to show them how the verses they are memorizing can be used in their everyday lives. Our theme verse was 2 Timothy 3:16-17 ~ All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. We incorporated some of the information Wes learned in his Bible classes in the past and put it in wording that made sense for 3rd-6th graders.

Some of the visuals from what we learned

Aspects about the Truthfulness of the Bible

Aspects from the Usefulness of the Bible

Helping them learn how to study, understand, & use the verses they are learning and also passages they are reading in their Bibles

Noah at the award ceremony. This was his 1st year in Sparks.

We are grateful to have a family-friendly ministry (AWANAs) where Wes and I can serve together, and our boys can also participate in the same program.

Family Fun

Mother's Day

Our fam

So thankful the Lord has blessed me with being the mother of our 3 precious sons!

Our church had a baby dedication on Mother's Day

Commitments we made when dedicating Samuel

Pastors praying for our families

Photo after dedicating Samuel

Our boys ~ & Wes :) ~ are all kinds of into Legos!

Lego builders hard at work

Showing off their masterpieces

The battle to see who's legos could beat the other's legos.

Daddy & Son Fun!

Piggy back/shoulder rides * Reading & snuggling

More snuggles with Samuel & Josiah

Super Samuel! * Sweet smile :)

Daddy comforting Samuel when having baby gas :(

Mommy & Son Fun!

Josiah helping me make muffins

Mommy-son date ~ With having 3 kids now, I want to be intentional about getting some quality 1-on-1 time with each of them. So, I am started going on Mommy-son dates with our boys. This month I went on a date with Noah. He wanted to go to Whitt's End at Focus on the Family & go down the slide together :)

Noah News

Age - 6 years old

Cute Communication

*Prayer on Mother's Day ~ "Thank you for Mommy taking care of us and cooking us good food. " :)

*Noah has been figuring out how rules work in different aspects of society. One day he asked me, "Does the government make a rule that you can't have Mommy's milk (referring to milk from nursing) when you are older?"

*Noah - "Do you know what I want to be when I grow up?" M

Me - "What?" ~ since it changes frequently ;)

Noah - "An artist"

Latest Likes

Legos

Biking & skateboarding

"Playing in the frontward" ~ playing with neighborhood friends

Playing with Legos * Snuggling with Dozer

*Video ~ Over the monitor after Wes & I tucked them in bed ~ Noah singing "He Arose" with Josiah doing backup ;)

Josiah Joys

Age - 2 years old

Cute Communication

*"Mommy, your tummy is getting better. Your tummy getting smaller." ~ referring to my stomach healing after C-section

*"Bible says be kind one another. Eeee [Ephesians] 4:32" ~ This is obviously something I say often to our boys.

*"I love him!" ~ referring to Samuel

Latest Likes

Balloons & bouncy balls

Giving Samuel kisses

Helping ~ one of his favorite things to do is throw away Samuel's diapers for me

Building ~ Blocks * Legos

*Video ~ Josiah walking down stairs all by himself!!!

Samuel Sentiments

Age - 2 Months

2 Month Stats:

Weight - 9.1 lbs. 6%

Height - 20.7 in. 2%

Head circumference - 15.3 in. 66%

1sts - sleeping in crib

Latest Likes

Interacting ~ Smiling, cooing/talking

Snuggling

Being swaddled in the Moby Wrap

Melting my heart with some BIG smiles on Mother's Day :) * Talking to me

Monkey gym

Looking cute with his little hat ;)

Tummy Time ~ Getting stronger * Resting after working hard

*Video ~ Smiling & interacting with Daddy :)

Bro Bonding

3 Bros

Noah & Josiah's "ships"

Showing off their "ships"

Noah & Samuel ~ Helping pump Samuel's legs to relieve gas ;) * Stare-down * Holding hands :)

Josiah & Samuel ~ Josiah's favorite thing to do with Samuel is give him kisses :)

Homeschool Highlights

Click on these links if interested in seeing more info about the K-8 skills/benchmarks books I use:

Core Knowledge Sequence: Content guidelines for K-8 (Fyi ~ This is not the same as Common Core.)

What Your Child Needs to Know When: According to the Bible, According to the State: with Evaluation Check Lists for Grades K-8

What Your Kindergartner Needs to Know ~ Obviously, this book is specific for Kindergarten. :)

Spontaneous Science Unit Study: Birds & Nests

It is a joy when the Lord coordinates learning in various areas of our boys' lives without my planning it! I just get to join in with teaching and also learning alongside of them!

Bird nest we found in a tree in our backyard * Mama bird

Nest craft Noah & Josiah made with a friend * Noah colored this at the YMCA

Life Skills

Noah learning how to pump up a tire * Josiah learning how to prune a bush

RMCA Homeschool Program

Noah finished Kindergarten at RMCA (Rocky Mountain Classical Academy) Homeschool Program

It was a joy to partner in education with this program! Noah went to school on Tuesdays from 8 am-3pm, and we homeschooled him the rest. :)

Noah's Class :)

It was encouraging to hear feedback from Noah's teachers from this past year:

Classroom teacher ~ "Loves to learn," "Excited to be at school," "Making improvement" [in his reading & fine motor skills]

Music ~ "Has really come out of his 'shell' and become a leader. Always respectful."

Art ~ "Bright student, seems to enjoy the subject. Is mindful of others."

P.E. ~ "A pleasure to have in class. Gives good effort."

Noah's academic strengths so far seem to be in Math and Fine Arts, and his most challenging subject is Language Arts.

Noah's ABC book he made throughout the year

Art Projects from 2nd Semester at RMCA Homeschool Program

Showing his artwork at the Art Show * Noah's piece in the Art Show ~ playoff of Joan Miro's "People and Dog in Sun" * Image of Joan Miro's artwork

End of the Year Field Trip with RMCA's Homeschool Program

The Wildlife Experience Museum in Parker, CO

Wes & Noah had a great time on RMCA's Homeschool Program field trip. They toured the museum, participated in a live animal presentation, and watched a 3D movie called "Kenya Animal Kingdom."

Memorable Moment of the Month

Potty-Training!!! ~ Josiah had been very determined that he was not interested in potty-training...being a big-boy...wearing cool underwear...going in the big potty like Daddy & Noah... It would have been wonderful if he could have been potty-trained before Samuel arrived, but we tried all kinds of motivational angles, and he was NOT interested. One day Josiah said that he wanted to start potty-training, so we jumped on it before the glimmer of interest was gone. Josiah did great! He caught on to the concept of making himself go pee in the potty in only a couple of hours. Yay!!! Wes and I just have to remember to put him on the potty often enough. ;) He's still working on pooping and is not able to stay dry at naps or nighttime, but he's off to a great start!

1st pee in the potty! * Wearing his big boy undies & reading lots of books :) * Max (Josiah's stuffed animal that he wanted to wear big boys undies with)

More Memories

Fun with Family