Thankful for Our Strong & Powerful God ~ 2015
We thank God for strengthening us when we are weak! ~ The Lord has shown us (Wes
& Christina) how His power is made perfect in weakness, since we have needed His strength
& power when we felt weak during a season of sleep deprivation, though Samuel is definitely
worth it! We also enjoyed seeing the Lord give us strength & remembering how He never
grows tired or weary, when we trained for & ran a 1/2 marathon together. :)
We thank God for strengthening our sons with new skills ~
Noah - 6 - Memorizing Psalm 23, swimming, rollerblading, skateboarding
Josiah - 3 - Memorizing Bible verses, running, riding Strider bike
Samuel - 8 months - Rolling ALL over, sitting up independently, laughing, smiling
We thank God for strengthening all of our hearts spiritually! ~ The Lord definitely
displayed His power in sustaining Samuel’s life & strengthened our hearts with greater trust
& joy in Him when we welcomed Samuel into our family back in March. It has been precious
to see the immense love Noah & Josiah have for their little bro. :)
We thank God most of all for showing His power by rescuing sinners ~ For He rescued us from
the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son [Jesus], in whom
we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:13-14 We hope this Thanksgiving you
look back on the year & see ways God has blessed you & shown how He is strong & powerful!
With thankful hearts ~ Wes, Christina, Noah, Josiah, & Samuel
What's on the Harrisons' Hearts & Memorable Moment of the Month
Spontaneity, Sensitivity to the Lord's Will, & Seeing the Lord Change Plans ~
Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such city... Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow... Instead, you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that." James 4:13-15
These verses have a sobering tone. However, we saw the Lord teach us the principle of these verses ~ being sensitive to the Lord's will and not getting set in our plans ~ in a joyous way! In the beginning of November, we were anticipating a very quiet-and-just-our-family holiday season due to Wes working Thanksgiving, and my extended family all meeting up in Kansas for Christmas, which we weren't able to join them due to Wes working near Christmas. This was a bummer to us since we enjoy celebrating the holidays with extended family. However, the Lord changed all our plans, somewhat last minute, and we are grateful for Him leading us to go to Wisconsin to celebrate Thanksgiving with Wes' family, Christina's mom & step-dad coming to visit the beginning of December, and Christina's extended family deciding it was best to have Christmas in CO Springs. So, our holiday season went from quiet-and-just-our-family to very lively-with-lots-of-family! It was wonderful season filled with many special memories!
Memorable Moment of the Month
In the airport ~ Walking to our terminal * Hanging out at the baggage claim
Samuel Meeting Wisconsin Fam for the 1st Time
Great Grandma Keith * Uncle Aaron
Auntie Autumn * Auntie Amanda
Cousins ~ Abby, Joey, & Brayden * Josiah wanted to hold his little bro too ;)
All the Cousins
Camren - 9, Joey - 4, Abby - 6, Noah - 6, Samuel - 8 months, Caleb - 2, Brayden - 5, Josiah - 3
Wrestling!
Noah & Brayden in their "ready" positions
These 2 were a good match for each other! :)
Josiah taking Camren down
Camren & Noah battling it out
Daddy showing Noah who's boss of wrestling!
Grandsons taking down Grandpa * Grandpa getting Noah
Hanging Out
Grandpa, Brayden, & Samuel bonding * Abby reading to Josiah
Samuel spending time with Great Grandma Keith * Caleb loves babies! :)
Grandpa & Josiah * Brayden & Caleb playing with Samuel
3 Generations
Celebrations!
Thanksgiving ~ Teamwork with the turkey!
Cousins enjoying their yummy Thanksgiving meal
Wes & Dad's birthday ~ They share the same birthday ~ November 30th! :)
Praises & Petitions
Friend's testimony - I am praising the Lord for my friend's testimony that she messaged me. My purpose of writing this out (though I will leave out details for privacy purposes) is for her testimony ~ of God's faithfulness at work, even when we may be unaware of Him being at work ~ to continue to be of encouragement in the future. I had no idea of all that the Lord was doing in this friend's life until she shared the following with me.
Christina, I'm not 100% sure that you will even remember who I am. But I was thinking about you today and wanted to send you a message. My family [moved from CO a few] years ago. What I wanted to tell you was thank you... you live out the gospel in your daily life and people notice when you think they may not notice. My husband and I...were broken...really broken. We were on the brink of divorce. We kept it quiet because we didn't want to draw attention to ourselves or hurt the kids. We came from another church that did not faithfully preach the gospel and that did not love us enough to call our sin what it was. It took hearing [pastors] boldly speak of Christ and meeting you for Christ to show me that I was missing the point of the gospel my whole life. Hearing you talk of Christ's love and grace in your everyday conversation showed me that I was missing something real in my life. Thank you! Thank you for being transparent and real about Christ. Today our pastor encouraged us to thank God for the people in our lives that lead us to Christ. You are one of those people for me. I will never forget your influence in my life. Thank you. I praise God for you.
Friend's adoption - Praise for the Lord matching her with 2 girls from Colombia. She was concerned with how the girls would respond, particularly with her being single. The girls found out this month and were super excited!!!
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. Please pray 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 leading us and taking care of all the last minute logistics for us to make a spontaneous trip to Wisconsin for Thanksgiving. Please pray Galatians 5:22-23 that the Lord would continue to grow us in walking in the Spirit and being sensitive to the Spirit.
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. Noah wanted prayer for a safe time flying to Wisconsin and back, which praise the Lord - He answered graciously. :)
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
Black Friday Date ~ Wes & I enjoyed going on a date while we were in Wisconsin. We had fun finding some good deals, while trying to avoid the crowds as much as possible. ;)
Family Fun
Thanksgiving Day
Decorating for Christmas
Noah liked reaching up as far as he could with his ornaments * Josiah was excited that he figured out how to put the ornaments on the tree all by himself
The brothers * Daddy & sons
Daddy & Samuel
Noah News
Cute Communication
*One night after dinner, Noah runs up to me, gives me a big hug, and says, "Thanks for cooking. That dinner was DELICIOUS Mommy!"
*Noah - "Mommy your arms are like a football player."
Me - "Why?"
Noah - "Because they're big!"
Me wondering if that was a compliment??? ;)
*We were having fun anticipating our trip to Wisconsin and Noah states, "There are two things I don't want to happen... get airsick ;) or be in a plane crash." We talked about God's sovereignty and how we can trust Him.
Latest Likes
Wiggly bottom tooth :)
Watching football with Daddy ~ and "trash talking" football with his speech therapist - Patriot fan ;)
Green Bay Packer hat "with the straight bill" ~ Noah knew the exact kind he wanted. ;)
Throwing a giant snowball at me ;) * Rolling around in the snow
*Video ~ Noah getting his groove on...until he realized people were watching ;)
Cute Communication
*"Tah dah!" when he finishes drawing something or doing something ;)
*One time he was in his room getting dressed and got stuck, and I heard him say, "Jesus help me." :)
*Nicknames ~ Mamoo for me; Daddoo for Wes
Latest Likes
Arts & crafts, markers
Dressing up in all kinds of attire
Choco book (one of his books that has an adoption theme with animal characters)
Josiah was very passionate about going outside in his "superhero" attire that he concocted ~ hat, cape, & snowballs ;)
Big boy walking Sierra
Samuel Sentiments
1sts - from sitting to stomach transition; saying "mama" (though we aren't sure he has realized what this actually means or associating it with me)
Latest Likes
Interacting ~ Being read to and sung to, Playing Peek-a-boo, Smiling, Laughing
Jumping in his jumper
Fruit! He used to like veggies, but he switched over to preferring fruit this month ~ ex. bananas, pears, blueberries, pineapple, applesauce, etc.
Having out & playing with Sierra
Cool dude ;) * Cute boy sound asleep
1st Thanksgiving
Enjoying some sweet potatoes for his 1st Thanksgiving meal * All smiles! :)
Starting to crawl! ~ Samuel does some stretching & sidewinder maneuvers to get to the object he want ;)
Up & rocking on hands & knees!
*Video ~ Samuel doing his "sidewinder" crawl
Bro Bonding
Noah & Josiah ~ Checking out the snow * Swimming buddies
Noah & Samuel
Josiah & Samuel
Samuel watching his big bros play outside in the backyard * Sweet shot of Samuel's reflection smiling up at Josiah :)
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
Noah participates in a homeschool program through RMCA in which he goes to a school building once a week for a full day ~ 8 am to 3 pm. Noah has a homeroom teacher, Mrs. Campbell, who reiterates reading and writing concepts that Noah is learning at home, and she also teaches some science, critical thinking, and character. In addition, Noah participate in P.E., music, and art each school day, so it is a full day!
Noah enjoys RMCA's homeschool program, and it has been a great fit for our family too!
Noah enjoys RMCA's homeschool program, and it has been a great fit for our family too!
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving class booklet Noah made at RMCA Homeschool Program
Noah's response to What are you thankful for? ~ "I am thankful for Dozer, my dog. I am thankful for my stuffed animals, my dad going to the store, watching movies with my dad. And another thing is going to church and playing dodgeball. And I am thankful for red dot."
[Red dot is a game Noah plays at Villasport, the gym we go to.]
Noah's response to What would you fix for Thanksgiving Dinner? ~ "I think we could have a turkey cut up and smoked. Probably pie."
Craft Josiah made showing what he is thankful for:
Mommy & Daddy
Brothers
Jesus
Candy
Clubber of the Month
Josiah was awarded as Clubber of the Month in AWANA ~ "Josiah always knows his Scripture verse. Josiah follows directions very well, and he is growing each week!"
More Memories
Swimming with Cousins
All the cousins (minus Samuel) ~ Nathaniel - 2, Noah - 6, Josiah - 3, Nora - 4, Kolter - 1, Sawyer - 5
The big bucket dumped on Nathaniel & Josiah, which took them by surprise and gave them a little scare
All the cousins (minus Samuel) ~ Nathaniel - 2, Noah - 6, Josiah - 3, Nora - 4, Kolter - 1, Sawyer - 5
The big bucket dumped on Nathaniel & Josiah, which took them by surprise and gave them a little scare
Mix of tears & laughter ;)
All drenched
Noah * Nora * Kolter
Great Tache & Nana
Celebrating Nana's Birthday with some Bowling
Gpa * Adam
Kristen * Wendy
Noah * Josiah
Sawyer * Nora & Sawyer * Nathaniel
Noah was very excited to celebrate Nana's birthday * Nana doing a little birthday dance :)
Aunt Loretta visited us when she was in Colorado ~ We had a fun time together * 1st time meeting Samuel (and also Josiah & Nathaniel)
Noah & Dylan (neighbor) wrestling in the snow
No comments:
Post a Comment