Anticipation

Have you ever felt God really work?

Have you ever felt that excitement and anticipation of what He is trying to do . . . waiting with expectation for what will be revealed and how it will all work out?

There have been a handful of times in my life when I can say that I knew God was orchestrating specific events to come together for a greater purpose in my life. These were times when I saw, supernaturally, how God just throws open doors of opportunities to let us know His plan for our lives. In these times, it's as if God has neon signs flashing, "Go this way!" since the plan comes together so divinely. We are in that stage now. We feel God's hand on several events that are transpiring, and we are waiting to find out the end result. We are ready for whatever God wants us to do.

It has taken me a long time to get to this point . . . the place where the unknown is no longer a place of fear but of excitement. When suddenly, you are longing for change and can see the adventure in just taking a risk for God.

It might seem crazy to some who wonder why we would jump willingly into the unknown without a plan. However, we do have a plan. His name is Jesus, and He is guiding and directing us each day. Literally, every day, I have felt God's presence by the way circumstances have been changing and falling into place.

There is no greater excitement or thrill than to jump with abandon to follow God's plan . . . and then to feel the sharp drop for maybe a few seconds, but then to allow God the privilege of catching you as you are free falling. Without the leap, you can't experience true faith. And there is no greater ride!

Fabulous Fourth

We had a very eventful fourth of July. The rainy weather dampened our cookout plans at lunchtime, but we were still able to go to the Historic Arkansas Museum in downtown Little Rock for their Frontier Fourth of July Festival. I took Owen to it last year, and he loved it. So, we decided to take the entire Cearley clan this time. That led to much more "fun" (or stress, depending on how you look at it!). Arden was a bit cranky and got tired of being in the stroller pretty quickly, as we were out during the middle of her nap, then she started screaming during the gun shooting exhibits because of the loud noise! The boys still had fun participating in a watermelon seed spitting contest, whitewashing a fence like Tom Sawyer, walking on stilts, marching in the militia, and doing a sack race. They also got balloons that were made into swords. I enjoyed the ice-cold watermelon!

The highlight of our adventure was when Hudson decided that he wanted to run away from us. In a split second, we didn't know where he had gone, as it was very crowded. After several minutes of looking, we got the museum workers involved, and then a police officer was called by radio to begin a search. A few minutes later a museum employee brought him up to the front desk and said that she found him on the elevator where he was heading to the children's exhibit on the second floor by himself! Like I've said before, he's our risk taker. Thankfully, he was safe, but he was very mad that his getaway was ruined.

Funny Questions Kids Ask

Lately, the boys have been asking us a lot of questions . . . most of them provide us with a daily dose of humor (though they are serious when they ask!). Here are a few recent ones:

1. Does the Incredible Hulk wear underwear?
2. Why don't we have a butler?
3. Mom, why don't you look like a super model?
4. How did I fit through your belly button to get out?
5. Dad, do you get scared being that tall and being so high up?
6. Mom, why is your skin cracking? (ie: wrinkles)
7. Why is the T-Rex a meat eater?
8. When you get old, does your hair move from your head to your belly?
9. Do you go to jail if you smoke cigarettes?
10. Why don't we have a burning bush like Moses?

Arden Sets New Family Records!

Today was Arden's six month checkup! I can hardly believe that she is half way through the baby stage and quickly approaching the "toddler years." Once she started sleeping all night, the days have flown by with many "firsts" already accomplished. She is now rolling over in both directions, holding her head 90 degrees when on her belly, starting to push up on her elbows, and she now has TWO bottom teeth! She laughs a lot (especially when her brothers entertain her!).

At her checkup today, she weighed in at 18 lbs, 2 oz, and she was 28 1/2 inches long. Translation: 85th percentile in weight, and over 95th percentile in height! Stuart hopes that translates to college scholarship money for basketball or volleyball! That is a new Cearley record for all our babies at this exact age. She is longer and heavier than the boys were at six months! However, I'm not sure if that is a good thing, considering she's a girl! ha ha

We got six immunizations today which caused a lot of tears, but so far, she's been acting happy at home. Her hair is still coming in thicker . . . and red!

What were they thinking?

Boys. I don't understand them. They are impulsive, wild, physical, risk takers. I've taken many parenting Bible studies on how to parent boys. Yes, there was Real Boys, Raising a Modern Day Knight, Wild at Heart, and Bringing up Boys.

I still don't get it.

I try to set boundaries, rules, limits. Once I've set one, they might obey it, but in their boredom, they create a need for a new rule that I never even thought I'd need ("You do not put things in your brother's nose!")

Here are some of my recent experiences where I asked myself, "What were they thinking!?!":

I don't understand why two boys would try to urinate in the toilet at the same time, in some sort of race.

I don't understand why it is an immediate response to run away from Mom when she is stranded with the cumbersome baby stroller behind a set of heavy, double doors and proceed to run up and down all the aisles of the public library.

I don't understand why it is fun to jump on a couch after numerous punishments for doing so.

I don't understand why boys would unbuckle their seatbelts and decide to tackle each other while in a moving vehicle that is going 65 MPH down the highway, resulting in the mother having to pull the car over.

I don't understand why boys jump off the top bunk of a bunkbed to try to land on a beanbag chair.

I don't understand why boys would climb onto the top of our new minivan while it was parked in the garage and pretend it was a mountain.

I don't understand why the couch cushions have to be thrown off the couch every time they play any game.

I don't understand why boys think potty language is so funny.

I don't understand why boys have to take off their shirt and/or their pants when playing indoors.

I don't understand why boys would try to throw the bowling balls at each other when bowling.

I don't understand why boys find it hilarious to chase each other around the house and try to pull the other's shorts down.

I don't understand why every toy becomes a weapon.

I don't understand why there is no indoor voice.

I guess I don't understand because I'm a girl . . . but I'm learning to appreciate the differences!

Anita Renfroe in Little Rock!

My favorite Christian comedian Anita Renfroe is going to do a concert in Little Rock on August 23 at Church at Rock Creek. Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door. Doors open at 6 p.m, and the show begins at 7:00. Anita Renfroe is well-known as a contributor to many Christian magazines and on Good Morning America. Her song "Momsense" has over 2 million hits on YouTube, and she always describes the role of woman, wife, and mother with hysterical truth. I saw her last year at the Women of Faith conference. She has several books and DVD's. Her newest DVD is titled, "It's probably just my thyroid!" You can purchase tickets by linking there from her tour calendar on her website http://www.anitarenfroe.com, at Church of Rock Creek bookstore, or Mardel's locations. I hope to attend the concert, and I hope you will announce it at your church and to your friends! It should be a great night of laughter!

No Fear

Fear has held me back from taking many risks in my life. I have probably missed out on many great opportunities that God had for me because I was too scared to walk through His open door. Instead, I planted my feet firmly and convinced myself that I was in the right place, that I was content, and that I was safe.

I remember meeting a young newlywed couple many years back. Stuart and I invited them over for dinner after they had visited our Sunday school class. They informed us that they were moving out of state in a month. They didn't have jobs in Phoenix yet, but they had always wanted to live there. It had always been their favorite place -- their dream. So, they were going. They were just going to quit their jobs, leave their security in Arkansas, pack up their stuff, and move to Arizona. They believed that things would fall into place once they got there. It would be an adventure, they said. At the time, I remember thinking that they were crazy. Who would do that? Wasn't it irresponsible? Shouldn't you have everything planned and lined up before moving across the country?

Since then, God has been working to change my perspective. It began when He peeled my tight grip off my life in Little Rock and slowly but surely changed my circumstances, so that I would have to let go. My church. gone. My job. gone. Stuart's job. gone. Close friends. gone. Little by little, we realized that God wanted a different future for us. We had been so intent on making our life work in that one place that we were missing the big picture.

Finally, we listened.

We left and followed God to a temporary job just 30 minutes away that has now led us to be in this community for five years. During this time, God has continued to teach me that He intends to bless us and give us jobs, relationships, ministry, children, financial provision, BUT (and this is important!), we must not hold onto anything too tightly. We must enjoy it for what it is, but we must always walk in close communion with God to know when He wants us to give up those items for something else. The minute that we feel that we can't surrender those things and that they control us, then they are no longer working for His glory anymore.

The biggest influence on my perspective occured in January 2007. My dad died. If you have never lost a parent, then it is impossible to explain how much of a void it creates, especially when you are only in your thirties, and you want so much to see your own children know their grandfather. I felt much too young to feel so alone in the world. This one event has changed me forever. For the first time, I really saw how fleeting this life is -- I really got it. I saw my father's influence during his final months of life when friends from all over the world contacted him and told him what a difference he had made in their faith and their walk with God by his years as a missionary and pastor. I heard testimony after testimony about how my father had made a difference. During that time, I realized that I wanted to make that kind of a difference with my life, and I wasn't. Sure, people would come to my funeral and miss me, but I wasn't leaving a legacy. Not a real one.

One direct result of Dad's death is that it stirred my heart and made me willing to have another baby. Somehow, Dad's death made me examine my motives, my priorities, and know that there was still a little girl out there that needed to be in our family. I trusted that God would give me the strength to go through another potentially high-risk pregnancy, and God was faithful to us. Sadly, Arden will never meet her grandfather until heaven, but she will know the story that she was born as a direct result of his life. She is a part of his legacy, and hopefully of mine too.

Life is short. There are too many people who accept mediocrity as enough because of fear. I've been one of them. As Nichole Nordeman sings, "So long status quo. I think I've just let go. You make me want to be brave. The way it always was is no longer good enough." I am thankful that God has been changing my heart, so that I am hungry for more. I want to live beyond mediocrity. I want to see life as an adventure, and not as something to fear. I want to be willing to risk enough to make a difference. I want to experience Arizona sometime.