Someone asked me recently what we prayed for when I was pregnant with Merry.  We prayed for lots of things, but one thing we specifically asked God for was a friendship and affection between Elijah and Merry.  God has answered. We have our days of too many sibling struggles, and we all have difficulty being loving and kind, and gentle all the time, but for the most part, we have watched a sweet friendship unfold between the two of them.

We prayed similarly for Micah, and that he would be included in their friendship.  Now we have a threesome that is developing into a fun little pack of children, and I have enjoyed some sweet reminders of God’s faithfulness to answer our prayers and graciously turn hearts to love each other.  Here are a few highlights from some recent days and some of my favorite things to hear between them:

“I sorry, you forgive me?  I really very sorry.”  “yeah, I a’give you,”

“I let Mimi pick first,”

Mom:”How did Micah get up on the bunkbed?!” (bottom bunk) Merry: “‘Yijah pick him up here, he wanted to play with us.” Micah: SQUEALING with glee.

Today after dinner Jeremy popped some popcorn and gave it to Merry and Elijah at the table.  I walked in from the kitchen and they were sitting there eating their popcorn, holding hands.  One hand holding the other, one hand jamming popcorn into their mouth.

All three caught sharing a bag of Chex mix without asking. . .Elijah: “Micah said he wanted a snack.”  Merry, backing him up: “yeah, he screaming and saying ‘more’ (signing)”  Momma: “yeah, I’m sure he did after you guys got it out of the cubboard and were eating it in front of him.”

All of them get pretty concerned if one person is not where they think they should be, “I worried about Micah, he not in his bed.” “I yooking (looking) for you Momma, you hiding?”

This was my birthday, breakfast with two sweet new friends here (they made it and brought it to me) putting up the 95 Thesis, just like Martin Luther, put up by MICAH Luther (and daddy) smiling so sweet!

One of my new Nepali friends in the church kitchen as they are teaching us to cook authentic Nepali food, Micah and Elijah in their matching plaid shirts, Grandma Rebecca, Mark and the children at the Slugger Museum, Micah’s 1st birthday and cake, and dinner date out with Rebecca and Mark

“For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan. . .that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty. . .” Joshua 4:23-34  “You (God) are good, and what you do is good;”  Psalm 119:68a

Last year was one of the most difficult of my life.  Probably even harder than the year I lost my mother – the same year my father walked away from the Church (he has since returned) and his family and my siblings and I were separated to what seemed like the four corners of the earth.

I have told Jeremy that being separated from him for about eight months changed me.  I have prayed that I would trust God’s hand and take what HE handed our family (yes, it was the Air Force that sent him, but GOD controls the USAF) without questioning.  But this is hard.  Some days I did not know if I would wake up a single mom, or if I would get a call from Jeremy, or a ringing doorbell with uniformed person.  What would I do if that happened?  Jeremy and I talked about what would happen if he did not return home.  It was necessary.  We are not promised tomorrow, and having a husband in combat chasing around Army Special Forces is an extremely vivid reminder of that!

As I mentioned in a recent blog, one afternoon spent in the home of an Iraqi family here in Louisville has made me suddenly able to be grateful for the time Jeremy was apart from us.  God has opened the doors for us, through Jeremy’s understanding of the Iraqi culture and through Jeremy’s love for the people of Iraq.  God is doing great things (as He has been since before eternity) in our lives as a family, as we get to know a few families from Iraq, as they open their homes to love us and we enjoy loving them in our homes also.

This last gathering they accepted Arabic Bibles and the Jesus Film in Arabic from us as a gift.  One woman in the group said she is reading the Bible every night and has almost finished the first two books of the Old Testament.  We are so excited!!

We don’t have pictures yet, but we are also building relationships with some families from Bhutan and Jeremy is teaching a translated Bible study on Wednesday nights.   We have been able to begin sharing the gospel with our friends from both Bhutan and Iraq.

I will have more pictures after Sunday when we cook Nepalese and Bhutanese food with the ladies, but here are a few from an outing with our Iraqi friends and a gathering at our house this weekend as we celebrated Jeremy’s return from Iraq one year ago!

Micah is growing and becoming quite a sweet little man.  Here are a few pictures of his progress now that he is walking and trying to pull up to standing, and doing some fancy trick that almost looks like he’s trying to stand on his head (or face-planting, which is what the result often is!)

He is also teething again, which will help him out as he transfers to REAL big-boy food over the next month.  Grandma Rebecca and Mark will be here for his first birthday on November 11 (and to celebrate my birthday too!)  Grandma and Pap Caskey will be here for Thanksgiving, and other family members may be visiting before the year is over, so the children will have plenty of audiences over the next few months!

This week is reading week for Jeremy (some people call it Fall break, but it is anything but a break!)

Says Elijah to Merry as they look at a picture of Moses riding a chariot: “Look Merry!  It’s Moses riding his bike with his horses!”

Says Merry to Elijah, very seriously: “Let me call my husband. . .” picking up the mandolin tuner, holding it to her ear and tilting her head sideways, “Hi Daddy, what are you doing today?”

We had one of the best days today.  We got to go as a family to an apartment complex where many refugees live and talk with them about our faith and begin building relationships.  The complex is close to our church, so we went with children’s games and a group of people from our Sunday School and church.  We considered staying at home and just sending Jeremy.  It was going to happen over naptime, but since it would be an outdoor outreach, we decided to go with him.  Another family brought their children, and it turned out to be the very thing that made many there comfortable enough to let their children come play with us and us ladies made many of the initial contacts with the adults because we started conversations with the mothers and the men would come over after that.

We got asked to come into the home of a Bhutanese and Nepali family and an I was invited with another mother into the home of an Iraqi family.  Consistent with their culture, we HAD to sit down, have some food and they also served us tea.  Jeremy had lots of opportunies and conversation material because of his familiarity with the Iraqi culture.  I think I was able to get out of there without horribly offending them because of all the information I had gathered from Jeremy when he was in Iraq.  Tomorrow they are coming over to our house for American food. . . I still don’t know exactly what I will make. . .they have four children and so maybe we will make homemade pizza.

This has felt almost surreal.  We have had an increasing burden for foreign missions as we have been reading together the book “Operation World” which is a handbook of different countries and the progress of the gospel in each one.  We dream now, of the day we might be able to go to a foreign country, even if just for a short-term mission trip.  We had NO idea there was an entire complex of people right here in our own city!!

Their stories were amazing, the Iraqi family moved here after the husband’s life was threatened because he helped the American military.  They fled for their lives through several countries.  They speak VERY little English, but one daughter does, since she is going to school here and has absorbed a good bit of the language for the past 9 months.

Now onto the real reason you check out blog: for pictures!  I’m sorry it has taken so long to get these up. . .I finally got my photos organized on my external drive now, so enjoy. . .

Micah’s getting so so big!!  Pulling up onto things today. . .looks like he’s skipping the crawling thing.  Merry and him are becoming such good buddies lately.  Elijah and him have a special bond already, being boys, but it has been sweet to see him light up around Merry lately and her mother him so sweetly!

We call this photo “Packing Preacher’s Kids”

Here’s Merry with my sweet new friend Anna (the night I met her at a women’s fellowship, I came home and told Jeremy “I met a kindred spirit!”  Merry just loves her, as you can see from this picture!

A few neighborhood children – three of them sharing a swing!

Elijah’s second night at Awana Cubbies. . .he got his book and vest!!  He was SO excited, he even posed for this picture!

Here I am in one room of Albert Mohler’s personal library (he’s the president of this university and a widely published author) in the lower level of their home.  I got to visit their home for a women’s fellowship, and boy was Jeremy jealous!!!  Check out more pictures here at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=146430&id=660159362&l=272573bc41

Tonight I will sleep sweetly, knowing that my life is so EASY compared to the two families we visited with today.  I am humbled by how they invited us into their homes, and wonder how I am doing at pouring out my life into others’.  Is it sacrificial?  Is it as Jesus would do, or am I hanging onto my own comfort?  These words are especially piercing tonight: “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.  But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?  Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.” 1 John 3:16-18

1. Honey Pecan Crusted Chicken served over Mashed Potatoes with seasonal vegetables in butter sauce - I think this is going to be My Comfort Kitchen’s signature dish

Serving two: $16    Serving four: $24

2. Shepherd’s Pie – Savory “mince” (beef and turkey) veggies baked under a potato and cheese topping – my father-in-law’s favorite, always requested when they come to visit!

Serving two: $13    Serving four: $21

3. Tilapia Tacos with Chili-Lime Aioli and Corn-Black Bean Salsa (Please order if you will be able to eat this meal FRESH on Wednesday or Thursday – this will be a MADE FROM SCRATCH meal all the way down to the homemade tortillas/flatbread. . .a CHARLESTON, South Carolina specialty!)

Serving two: $16    Serving four: $24

Add-Ons:
1. Italian Salad (toss right before serving) $1 per serving
2. Cheesecake $2 per slice

Treats!

By request. . .individual servings or whole pies, cakes and cheesecakes

We are working on getting Micah sleeping through the night.  It has been interesting because when we let him scream it out, we risk waking up the two older.  We’ve figured out a solution, though, and the last few nights he’s only been up once and has slept for at least one 7-8 hour stretch.

This morning, one of the older children were a little noisy in the room and woke him up (he sleeps in later than the oldest two.)  He was crying and when I went into the room, he looks up from his crib at me and says “ni-night” in the most pitiful little voice.”  I gave him his pacifier, he rolled over, closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

I guess that’s 9-month-old speak for “hit the snooze button one more time,” or “five more minutes please!”

On more exciting news: we are officially members of Carlisle Baptist Church!  Yay!  We are so thankful that God has guided us to a loving group of people. . . we are SO excited to begin serving God there!

On an excursion today to the seminary with some neighbors and the children, we passed a nice shaded bench with a lady student studying quietly seated there.  After we pass the bench, Elijah stops, turns around, points to the bench and says “Look, Mommy, it’s a bench!”  Nothing wrong with that sentence right?  Nothing wrong except the pronunciation!  Elijah replaces the “n” in “bench” with a “t.”  So I say VERY LOUDLY hoping the lady hears me “Yes, Elijah, it’s a BENNNNCH!!

Only a few minutes later on the walk, another of our neighbors joins us on our walk.  Suddenly, without any warning, Merry and Elijah pick a tree next to the road to stop at and drop their pants.  Both my neighbors are trying to stifle their laughter (I’m assuming because they are RELIEVED it’s NOT THEIR CHILDREN DOING THIS!) Elijah goes to the backside of the tree (as we have trained him in for an emergency such as this) and of course pees.  Merry is just standing there on the front side of the tree, with her pants around her ankles.  Bare bum showing to all the cars driving into the entrance of the seminary.  As I pull up Merry’s pants, I ask her if she needed to go potty, she says, “no” in a very matter-of-fact way.  Come on!  If you are going to drop your drawers in public, at least have a good reason!

Micah just cut 4 upper teeth in THREE DAYS, so needless to say, we’ve been a little sleep deprived and slightly frayed at the edges lately!  Merry and Elijah started school. . . WHAT FUN!!!  This week we are reading The Story of Ping and loving Five in a Row TOTALLY!  It is right at our pace.

Jeremy registered me for a Seminary Wives Institute class “Biblical Counseling” that starts next week and I have begun reading the text for that class “Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands” by Paul David Tripp.  My little cooking/personal chef home business has steadily grown over the last few weeks, and I am excited to be able to share it with all of you: http://mycomfortkitchen.wordpress.com Sadly, I’m unable to ship goods outside of Louisville, Kentucky!

Jeremy started classes this week and it seems VERY managable, which is so encouraging.  He likes his Greek class and his other classes as well, but we were of course most concerned about the language class.

The biggest praise is that this week marks less than two weeks until Jeremy will officially be out of the Air Force!  Thank you all for praying for us!  God is gracious to us.  We see evidence of that over and over as we meet with other student families as the new school year starts.

Jeremy writes,
We are new to the cable television scene.  In fact, in eleven years of marriage we’ve never been cable subscribers.  The seminary has cable included as part of the rent, so we’ve tested the waters.  I am personally excited to have the opportunity to watch every Steeler game with both ESPN and NFL Network.  Other than the aforementioned perk we have only watched a couple of shows in the morning on Playhouse Disney.  The kids are avid fans of “Little Einsteins” and “The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.”  The little ditty’s and theme songs are regular numbers in our household.

But Adina and I have an affinity for the bear of little brain, “Special Agent Oso.”  It’s not quite up their with the classical music and art fare of “Little Einsteins”, but it has generated some interesting behavior in the children.  Unlike the honey junkie, Pooh (another stuffed bear of little brain), Special Agent Oso gets his kicks going on missions to teach kids to do household chores and other tasks on their own.  Since watching this show Elijah is taking his own initiative in brushing his teeth (without being asked) and doing other household chores, “just like Agent Oso.”  Anything that gets my kids interested in housework has me on board.  Adina and I look at each other and laugh when the kids help out and point out that they’re doing just like Special Agent Oso does.

The show is voiced by Sean Astin, the actor who portrayed the lovable Samwise Gamgi from “Lord of the Rings.”  If you have young children (and more to the point, cable) check it out.