The Eclectic Dabbler

In the early days, life was simple. There was Pink Bear. And Pink Bear was The Only Bear.

I got Pink Bear at Target with a giftcard from Mara’s baby shower, because I really wanted my baby girl to have a little teddy bear from her Mommy.

Mara loved Pink Bear. It used to be that she couldn’t sleep without Pink Bear in her arms. We took Pink Bear when we traveled, so Mara could sleep . . . . or . . . so all of us could sleep!

Mara still loves Pink Bear. But now she also has Yellow Bear, who joined us in May 2007, at Aunt Mary’s in Florida.

Then came Perkle Bear [purple bear] from Grandmom.

And Blue Bear from Great-Grammie.

And now, most importantly, Pink Bear With Hearts.

If you ask Mara where we got Pink Bear with Hearts, and she will tell you: “At the dozing ‘wap!” [clothing swap--about nine months ago] He was free. I’m glad I picked him up. I told Mara she could have one toy from the clothing swap, and she cried when I picked up Pink Bear with Hearts and told me to put him back–she didn’t want him.

But now? Mara and Pink Bear With Hearts are inseparable! In this picture, you can see that Mara wrapped Pink Bear with Hearts in her favorite Pink Binkit (another thing she can hardly sleep without!). Now that’s special treatment!

Pink Bear With Hearts also answers to “Baby Moses.” And spends many of his waking moments in a basket in the “water” (aka our kitchen floor).

Life is exciting, if you are Mara’s favorite bear!

The gospel will always be counter-cultural.

Listen to Luke 6:

²⁰And turning His gaze toward His disciples, He began to say, “Blessed [happy] are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

²¹“Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

²²“Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man.

²³“Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven For in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets.

²⁴“But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full.

²⁵“Woe to you who are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.

²⁶“Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way.

²⁷“But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,

²⁸bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

²⁹“Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either.

³⁰“Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back.

³¹“Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.

³²“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.

³³“If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.

³⁴“If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount.

³⁵“But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.

³⁶“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

³⁷“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned.

³⁸“Give, and it will be given to you. . . For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”

The text really speaks for itself. I don’t think I even need to mention that I struggle (we all struggle, in differing degreees) to live this way.

Christ came into our world this way: poor, hungry, weeping, hated by men, insulted and scorned for righteousness’ sake, kind to ungrateful and evil men. He loved men who hated Him–and He died for them! He calls us to that same radical, counter-cultural, self-denying, Christ-exalting life.

But the paradoxical beauty of this kind of living is that ultimately, as we give up ourselves, our lives, our “rights” to follow Christ, we will experience the greatest riches and satisfaction imaginable as we pursue God’s kingdom!

I’m praying that He will change me into this kind of person!

Mara’s been monopolizing the “blog press” these past few days, so I thought I would do a couple posts on my little guy.

Daddy won some office supplies in a contest at work! Micah had fun pulling the sheet protectors off the coffee table and carrying them around in his walker.

Micah loves music! and he thinks he wants to learn how to play the piano. If he stands on his tippy-toes, he can now reach the keys!

Daniel’s grandparents visited from Indiana last week, so Mara & Micah got to spend some time with their great-grands. Here’s Micah with Great-Grammie:

He especially seemed to enjoy his time with Great-Grandpa.

Last year at this time. . . Micah was learning to take a bottle.

Here’s Daniel feeding Micah in the NICU. (I adore Micah’s little foot in this picture!)

This year . . . Micah is feeding himself watermelon!

What a Difference a Year Makes!

The one thing that hasn’t changed? His voracious appetite!

“Family Portraits” rarely happen in our home. In fact, we haven’t had any type of professional couple/family pictures since our wedding (although I have taken the kids for pictures) and for someone who likes pictures as much as I do, this is very sad.

So in the rare event that we snap a family “candid,” it will most assuredly end up in this blog!

Last Saturday was one such day. . . Our last family snapshot was in March, so it’s time for a new one! Here it is–FWIW.

My goal is to get a “real” family portrait in early fall, to send out with the Thanksgiving letter I am planning to write this year!