Giving God Glory & Memorable Moment of the Month
Our Strong God Who Has No Limits! ~ Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; His understanding is unsearchable. Isaiah 40:28 As we trained over the summer for running a 1/2 marathon together, Wes and I were reminded through our frail bodies that grow tired, weary, and fatigued that the Lord is the everlasting and strong God who does not faint or grow weary! We have physical limits as humans, but the Lord has no limits!
Our Strong God Who Has No Limits! ~ Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; His understanding is unsearchable. Isaiah 40:28 As we trained over the summer for running a 1/2 marathon together, Wes and I were reminded through our frail bodies that grow tired, weary, and fatigued that the Lord is the everlasting and strong God who does not faint or grow weary! We have physical limits as humans, but the Lord has no limits!
Memorable Moment of the Month
1/2 Marathon ~ Back in the April, Wes mentioned he wanted to run a 1/2 marathon, and I told him, "Why don't we run it together?" [even though I just had Samuel a few weeks before ;) ] We decided we would go for it and found a 1/2 marathon in CO Springs at America the Beautiful Park on Labor Day that we thought would work out well. So, once I got the "6 week release" from my OB, we started training. I found a Women's Running program ~ 20-Week Couch to Half Training Plan ~ to be a guide and figured that my program would be a 20-Week C-Section to Half Training Plan, which is kind of similar. ;) Wes and I trained over the summer and took turns going out for our long runs... definitely a time commitment, but it was fun to have a shared goal to work towards together which made it worth it.
Labor Day, race day, came, and we had been joking about whether we would run / finish together or if Wes would not be able to stay at my pace and take off on me. ;) I had been training at a pace of about 1 to 2 minutes per mile slower than Wes, which is a significant difference so I was realistically anticipating him ditching me. He told me that he would stay with me, but I wasn't so sure once that adrenaline of race day hit. During the race, the Lord was gracious, and I knocked off about 2 minutes per mile from my time, which was the pace Wes had been training at, so it worked perfectly for us to run together for the 13.1 miles! We crossed the finishline together at 2 hours 15 minutes, and we had a great time running together along the way! It was a lot of fun!
Before the race * After :)
On another note, some friends of ours blessed us greatly by letting our boys stay overnight with them, since we had to get up pretty early for the race. Noah and Josiah did great! Unfortunately, Samuel had the WORST night that any of our boys have EVER had! Apparently Samuel had some tummy issues and was up from 9:30 pm until 4:30 am!!! He kept having gas or bowel movements and was unconsolable. We found this out after our race and felt awful for our friends having to be up all night with our son! Our friends were so kind to say that they were thankful for the opportunity to bless us and that we needed to be able to get away from our kids at times, especially in the season of having young children. What a servant heart perspective! Thank You, Lord, for friends that humble us with their Christlikeness of sacrificial love and service!
What's on the Harrisons' Hearts
Passion for Prayer ~ Through a variety of ways, the Lord is growing us in a greater passion for prayer and for prioritizing prayer in our lives... book - Praying Life by Paul Miller, prayer cards / prayer journal, Family Life Today (program that I enjoy listening to) having a series on prayer this month, circumstances and situations in which there is nothing we can do but pray, and more.
Praises & Prayers
A Few T&T boys and girls - Praise for the Lord encouraging 2 girls and 2 boys that were torn of whether to return to AWANA (for reasons more along the lines of laziness than a valid, concrete reason) to persevere and prioritize God's Word in their lives (though Wes and I know there are kids who can still do these things without being part of AWANA). Also, praise for a past T&T Girl quoting our theme verse in T&T last year in her baptism testimony and how that verse had impacted her.
Friend - Please pray for a friend who has left the gospel and is in a journey of agnosticism. I am praying John 8:32 for her that she would know the truth, and the truth would set her free.
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 & Christina - Praise for the Lord blessing us with the opportunity to train and run a 1/2 marathon together ~ for keeping us injury-free, growing us in self-discipline, and growing us closer together through this shared goal. Please pray Galatians 5:23-24 that the Lord would continue to grow us in self-discipline / self-control (as well as the other fruit of the Spirit) and in unity.
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. Continued praise for the Lord growing Noah in loving his brothers, especially Josiah since Noah will sometimes provoke him. I asked Noah what he would like loved ones to pray for him - "Pray that I would memorize God's Word deep in my heart and that I would love Josiah."
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 communicate more often with his words rather than screaming when he doesn't like something. Please continue to pray for the Lord to grow Josiah in using his words to communicate (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 for no major prayer requests for Samuel presently. :)
Marriage Memories
Family Fun
Our Fam of 5 :)
Go Packers!
Cute Little Football ;)
Daddy & Sons
Mommy & Sons
Samuel's 1st Time Swimming!
He liked it! :) When in the water, Samuel kept cooing and kicking his legs. He also had fun watching his bros swim around.
Mommy-Son Date
Noah had heard of me getting gatorade on my long runs on the trail behind our house, and he had been wanting to ride bikes on the trail to get something fun to drink too. So one beautiful afternoon, Noah and I went on a Mommy-Son Date riding bikes to the 7-11 a couple miles away, enjoying a refreshing drink, and biking back home. We had a good time together!
Noah cruising on the trail * Spotting the 7-11 in the distance
Enjoying our delicious drinks :)
Noah News
Age - 6 years old
Cute Communication
*Noah and I were talking about what it will be like in heaven and how there will be no sickness, hurt, death, pain, etc. Noah asked, "Will there be candy?"
Me - "Maybe..."
Noah - "I will eat lots of candy there then because I won't throw up [since there is no sickness.]" ;)
*Noah threw a rock at a beehive one afternoon and sure enough got stung in the head. :( Later on Noah told me when we were talking about it, "I think the bee knew it was me and stinged me." ;)
*Noah gets excited to see his little bro and often says, "Let me see that Samuel!" :)
Latest Likes
Swim lessons ~ bobbing underwater
Rollerblading
Pokemon cards
Noah ~ aka. Noahnator ;)
Cruising on his scooter
*Video ~ Noah's flip on the trampoline
Josiah Joys
Age - 3 years old
Cute Communication
*While singing "Jesus Name Above All Names" in church, there is a line of "Immanuel - God with us," and Josiah leans over to me and says, "We don't need to be afraid because Jesus is always with us." The connection is from me frequently talking with the boys at bedtime how we don't need to be afraid of the dark, of bad dreams, etc. because Jesus is always with us, even when Daddy and Mommy aren't with them. It's encouraging to see them internalize things we teach them and share about it in different contexts!
*When the boys were over at a friend's house eating a meal with them, Josiah (who eats independently and without assistance at home) asks one of the teenage girls, "Will you feed me?" ;)
* "Go ahead..." Josiah often tells me this when he beats me to a door and holds it open, when Samuel and I are going up or down the stairs the same time as him, etc. I have sought to teach the boys how to be gentlemen and to hold open the door for others, and the boys also saw us tell others to "Go ahead" when we were hiking this summer. Josiah seems to be a very observant and eager little learner (most of the time). :)
Latest Likes
Anything involving water! ~ swimming, puddles, water balloons, squirt guns
Using big boy cups
Marbles
Josiah ~ aka. Jobeezie ;)
Being silly with his socks * Excited about riding his strider bike!
*Video ~ Josiah cruising on his strider bike
Samuel Sentiments
Age - 6 months
6 Month Stats:
Weight - 13.2 lbs. 1%
Height - 24.23 in. 1%
Head circumference - 17.5 in. 89%
1sts - swimming, haircut, sucking thumb but ended up being an index-finger-with-a-flip kind of guy ;) , rolled over from back to tummy, sitting up unassisted, rolling over multiple times, drinking sippy without help, eating in a highchair
Latest Likes
Rolling over
Smiling, babbling, interacting ~ being tickled, sung to, read to
Playing in his jumper, with rattles, and putting everything in his mouth
Samuel ~ aka. Super Samuel
1st Haircut! ~ Before * After (The difference was a little more noticeable when his hair wasn't spiked.)
Big boy sitting up all by himself!
Having fun * Putting everything in his mouth
1st time eating in a high chair
Sweet smile * Getting stronger during tummy time
Drinking his sip all by himself
Sucking his thumb * Settling on sucking his index finger when flipped ;)
Having fun in his jumper
*Video ~ Samuel's scooting attempts ;)
Bro Bonding
Brothers
Hanging Out
Being silly ;) * Riding bikes & playing together
Wrestling ~ Noah on top * Josiah making a move on Noah
Sweet bros
Noah giving Samuel a hug * Samuel giving Noah a kiss :)
Just precious to see Samuel's hand resting on Josiah :) * Laughing together
Homeschool Highlights
Click on these links if interested in seeing more info about the K-8 skills/benchmarks books I use:
Please let me know if you would like to know about the specific curriculum I use. :)
Core Knowledge Sequence: Content guidelines for K-8 (Fyi ~ This is not the same as Common Core.)
What Your [Grade-level of Your Child] Needs to Know ~ Core Knowledge books corresponding to grade-level
Various Highlights
Science ~ Checking out the Supermoon
P.E. ~ Noah started back up with swim lessons at the YMCA. The swimming skills and also survival concepts are really starting to click!
Art Field Trip ~ Picasso Event
Wes and Noah enjoyed participating in a Picasso event at the library in which the children learned about Picasso and then had an opportunity to draw something inspired by Picasso's work.
More Memories
Sleepover with Their Cousin ~ Nathaniel
Having fun! ~ Nathaniel & Josiah chasing Noah around our island in the kitchen * Noah & Nathaniel playing with Samuel
Watching a movie ~ Cute seeing Noah's arm around Nathaniel :) * These 2 are the best of friends!
Finishing their movie in the morning while having a "Breakfast Picnic" in our family room ;)
Boys with Nana
ABEFC's Women's Retreat ~ Light Bearers ~ Samuel and I enjoyed going on our church's women's retreat this fall. I am grateful for Wes taking great care ~ and enjoying lots of sweets with ;) ~ Noah and Josiah over the weekend. The theme was Light Bearers based on the principle in Matthew 5:16 ~ Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. ~ how God has called us to be disciples and make disciples by Christ living in us and through us. It was an encouraging and refreshing time for me, and overall Samuel did very well! The truth that Jackie, the speaker, shared strongly resonated in my heart and with what the Lord had been teaching me lately. The Lord also united me with a dear sister, who joined us for the retreat from another state, and we had one of those "God ordained and orchestrated conversations" where we both had a similar burden on our hearts that we sought to encourage each other about, which was such a blessing!
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