Happy Easter!

All day long my family has been shouting "He is Risen!" to which you reply with a hearty "He is risen indeed!" A joyful cry, not because the Easter Bunny has graced our door step (although he did), and not because it was a beautiful day (although it was) and not because we had fun with family (although we did). We shout this to each other because when one feels the full weight of their sins, struggles with them daily, and then on one spring day, one beautifully sunny, glorious spring day, we are reminded that we no longer need to bare these sins; that He who died is no longer dead; that we who die shall never be dead, it is worth shouting about! And so, I say to you, dear friends and readers, He is risen indeed!

Grandma Jan Admiring her Easter orchid

Oma and Wiggles 

On a mission for Easter Eggs

A simple moment. Counting eggs with daddy, hanging onto Oma.

The full ensemble. Dress handmade by Oma by the way.

Opa is more than a little smitten with his granddaughter. It was so much fun to watch them together!

Encouragement

It's amazing how God uses hard times to bless us. I guess I'll start at the beginning of the story.

Pat and I had decided to go to visit my parents. As you know from this post my parents recently lost their jobs. They are currently staying with some wonderful friends who have willingly taken them in. Plus also these fabulous people put up with us and a screaming one-year-old from time to time. Anyway, we went down there on Sunday (St. Patricks day, remember?) to enjoy some corned beef and cabbage and some family time. 

It was their son's birthday. There was cake. 

See? Cake.

In and of itself this would have been fantastic. But then we went to my dad's best friends house for the night. I was a little wary when we walked in a the cat greeted us (Pat is have-an-asthma-attack-right-this-second allergic to cats) but, miracle of miracles, this cat didn't bother him at all! Plus the cat was not ever allowed in the room where we stayed in, so cat free zone helped too. Not only did they have a fabulous guest room with a BEAUTIFUL quilt on the bed (hand-made by the lady of the house, I might add) and a glorious on suite bathroom, but they also had a room for Wiggles to sleep in so we didn't wake her up coming to bed. And on top of all that, after Wiggles was asleep for the night they fed us all the ice cream we could eat and made us laugh late into the evening. It was so refreshing! 

Tater the cat

Wiggles and Tater had a love hate relationship... As our hostess put it, "how would you like it if a cat the size of a leopard walked past you?!"

Then we spent the entirety of the next day being loved on by my 92 year-old grandmother and our dear family friend. Two restaurantes and one park later we felt pretty good!

We were supposed to leave that afternoon. We were supposed to get Blizzards from Dairy Queen on the long drive home, but alas, it was not to be. Long story short Pat had a major asthma attack when we got back to where my parents were staying. It was nearly a 911er. Actually, any sane and normal person would have called 911, but we are not normal or sane. He was so bad that we weren't sure how he was going to make it home. My parents hosts offered to let us stay on their couches that night. They were so much more than generous. But that's not the best part.

Every night that all four of the house residents (the hosts and my parents) are home in the evening everyone sits together and shares their day and then they pray for each other. We got to sit in on this time. The nature of these prayers were relatively private, so I won't share all the details, but we were so encouraged by all four of the faiths we witnessed. No one is the room is going through easy times. All three couples are struggling through some difficult things, but they still come to the Lord. Every night. And just praised Him, talked with Him and each other. Encouraging, praying for and listening to each other. Would that we all had friends like these.

The point is this, if Pat hadn't had an asthma attack, we would have missed it. We would have missed the opportunity for the Lord to speak to us through the brave testimonies of my parents and their friends. So, thank the Lord for appropriately timed asthma attacks. Thank the Lord for the hard things in life that force us to slow down a see Him.

Rest in Him today,

Jillian

Her Name

I have refrained from sharing Wiggle's real name with you all (whoever "you all" is), and I will probably continue to do so in the future, however, I will give you hints in tonight's post. Let's just say this: Her name means "He (God) has responded with grace". I always thought that it was because we wanted a baby and He gave her to us. Or that she would respond with grace to those whom she came across. Or that God was promising to claim her as His own in His grace. But it occurred to me as I was listening to her scream blue murder at nothing in particular for the fourth hour in a row that maybe her name is a reminder to me that I am going to need to remember to "respond with grace" to her when she is more than a little opinionated. Something to think about.

* As a side note, let me also say that I have a sweet and wonderful daughter. She laughs at everything, is cuddly and gentle, sweet and cautious and so generous with all that she has (including her prized fishy crackers). I love everything about her. Including her stubborn streak which means that, like her father, she will grow to have strong convictions and passions that will guide her life and give her joy. I know I spend a lot of time talking about what is difficult about her, but the truth is, I wouldn't change her. Mold her? Yes. Change her? Never.

Sleep well,
Jillian

Luxuries Denied to Parents

Being sick at the same time. For those of you who are not parents, let me warn you (this never even crossed my mind before we had kids): SOMEONE STILL HAS TO FEED THE BABY! Someone still has to change her, give her her medicine, chase her around and stop her from committing involuntary suicide. Just because you have a fever or 100.5 and wish only to stay near enough to the bucket not to miss your target, and your husband is standing on pneumonia's doorstep does not mean she has magically learned how to tuck herself into bed with a kiss and a wave. Just saying. You have been warned.

Oh, and PS, can we be well please?! Here's the casualty list:

Father-in-law: Pneumonia (in the hospital for a week, out from work for over 3, plus various other more permanent ailments including but not limited to only one functioning lung)

Mother-in-law: Terrible asthma-irritating chest cold

Brother-in-law: Coughed so hard this week he cracked a rib

Husband: Pre-pneumonia hacking cough (plus the usually spinal injury pain)

Eliana: Ear infection and the stomach flu AT THE SAME TIME!

Me: Terrible head cold, THEN stomach flu

Pray for us,

Jillian

Mama has the flu, Baby has an ear ache.

The height of her double sickness. Temperature at time of photograph: 103.3

My Week in Pictures #1

My new camera has given me a new weekly blog idea. I need practice with my new camera. I'm still getting used to all the settings and more importantly, how to set those settings quickly enough to catch a toddler before the moment is gone. So I'm going to try and do a picture a day for a year. Not an original idea, I know, but a good enough one to steal. So here goes (pardon the backlog, I'm starting when I got the camera just over a week ago):

2/22/13--First day with the camera. This is what "timeout" for a one year old looks like at our house. As you can see she's really phased by it...

2/23/13--Zoo trip for Grandma's Birthday. This is not Wiggles, just thought it was a fun shot. 

2/24/13--Photo credit to Pat. He really has a fantastic eye. I know it's blurry, but I love the expression. Good job Daddy!

2/25/13--Reading a book in the car.

2/26/13--Love this picture. Our bedtime cuddles. 

2/28/13--Auntie Ericka is home from Ireland for a while. We are thrilled to have her (and her hat collection, displayed above). 

3/1/13--Daddies: Making bedtime difficult for Mommies since 1954. Pat LOVES to get her all riled up and then hand her off to me to put her to bed! 

3/3/13--Sick baby girl. Seriously folks, this is about an hour before we rushed her to urgent care with 103.3 fever and shallow, rapid breathing. Turns out it's an ear infection. You wanna know what tipped the Dr. off? We told her Wiggles refuses to lay down to sleep, even though she's so exhausted she's practically falling asleep in my arms. Lovely. My child already hates sleeping. Now it's actually painful for her to even try. Pray for me, people!

3/4/13--Feeling better today. Gotta love amoxicillin! Daddy's playing tickle monster with a much happier Wiggles.

I would love to have people link up and share some picture of their week, but I'm still learning how to do that. For now, feel free to leave a link to your blog in the comments if you wish. I can't wait to see what you have been up to.

TTFN, ta ta for now,
Jillian