I Shall Be Random, Vol. 2

~ 1 ~

A new month = a new header and blog design = happiness!

~ 2 ~

The robins have returned which is also cause for great joy for two reasons:  they're my favorite bird, and they're a sign of spring coming.  Even though I delighted in the abundance of snow that we were given last winter, I haven't been complaining about the mildness of this past month.  For example, yesterday, the last day of February, the temperature reached 70 degrees and we had a thunderstorm.  Bizarre!

~ 3 ~

The problem with cleaning is that it reveals more dirt.  I can go for days (weeks! months! years!) not thinking about the fact that the fan blades hanging in the middle of our living room are loaded with dust; but when I start cleaning, I notice it, and I feel like sending a note of apology to everyone who's been in our home recently.  "Dear friends, I'm so sorry I didn't do a better job of cleaning before you came.  I had no idea the dust above your heads was an inch thick."  Or under the kitchen table - whew, it's scary to look under there.  Out of sight, out of mind for me; but when I pull out the vacuum and get to work and peek under the tablecloth, I realize there is a shocking amount of debris that's accumulated, dropped by the eight little hands that regularly circle around our table.  Ignorance is bliss.  It's not until I start to clean that I realize how dreadfully dirty I've let things become!  :)

~ 4 ~

Did you ever consider yourself a moderate about something; but then one day, you wake up and--poof!--you realize, "I am so NOT a moderate"?  That happened to me recently.  It suddenly dawned on me that I'm so far to one side on this issue (which will remain unnamed to avoid drawing boundaries and stirring up hard feelings where I don't want them) that it's not even funny.  Just call me a radical.

~ 5 ~

For quite a long time, Rebekah of bekahcubed fame has been reading my blog--and I, hers.  I can't remember how we got connected in the first place; but however it was, I'm grateful for it!  She is an excellent writer and manages to do things I only dream about (for example, she is, get this, reading through all the books in her library--not the room in her house where she keeps her books, but the public library!).  She recently gave me a blog award:  rather, a synthesis of two awards, I guess.  Stylish and Versatile, so she says.  I don't know about that, but I do know that I appreciate her and her blog friendship!  ;-)

~ 6 ~

Speaking of blogging...and of friendship...Christie from Satisfaction Through Christ is another wonderful lady that I've gotten to know solely through her blog.  Although she only lives a state away, we've never met; but I've felt a bond with her through our mutual faith (and the fact that her husband is a pastor helps me to relate even more to her life).  She and her husband had been led to pursue adoption; but as anyone knows who has had any experience with adoption, it is often (always?) a long, sometimes difficult, faith-testing road.  Recently God blessed them with a beautiful baby girl; and as Christie has been telling the story of Moriah's adoption, I've been inspired by how God put all the pieces of it together to help them connect with the daughter God wanted them to have.  God is sovereign, and He is so, so good!

~ 7 ~

When we found out that we were going to have two children only 18 months apart, people said...

..."They'll be such good buddies as they grow up!"

I guess in this case, the people were right.

They are good buddies; but when Shav spots his mommy...

...he forgets his buddy and scoots to her!  ;-)

~ 8 ~

On the living room wall above our couch hangs a magnificent painting done by Jeff's dad:  Daniel in the den of lions (you can see it in this post).  David likes to test his balance by walking along the top of that couch; and when he does, he sometimes brushes against that painting, which really doesn't hurt it so I've never told him to stop doing that.  But one day, when my dad was in the living room finishing up math with Josiah, he noticed that David bumped the painting and that it was swinging a little precariously from its nail.  He cautioned David by saying, "You're going to upset Daniel."  David, not understanding Dad's use of the word "upset" to mean "knock down or topple over," looked up at Daniel's face in the painting and quipped, "He doesn't look upset!"

Well, no, I suppose he doesn't.  ;-)