bedtime conversations

most nights, troy puts caleb to bed while i take care of ali. but on monday and wednesday evenings, troy has class and i'm in charge of both of them. i let caleb play with my iphone while i put ali to sleep and then i get to hang out with him.

after we read a couple of books and brush teeth, we make our way to his room and read his Bible. then i turn off the lights, pick him up, sit on the rocking chair, and then we have the greatest conversations. monday, it was about what's real and what's pretend. we talked about micky mouse, buzz lightyear and woody. we talked about how pretend things are fun, but what we really love are the things that are real: family members, friends, etc.

tonight we talked about heaven. he was telling me that God lives in heaven. he wanted to know what heaven was like and i told him that everything that was the best was in heaven. i asked what he thought would be there. here are some things he mentioned: lots of cool toys, chocolate cow milk, cold chai tea, chocolate candies, brownies, and mommy and daddy. sounds great, huh? then i told him the best thing about heaven was that Jesus was there and we would get to see Him. caleb was so excited about that. he told me that he wanted to go drive to heaven and see Jesus. me too! when the time comes, we'll be called home and i can't wait!

mom

my mom's coming for a visit soon, so i've been thinking a lot about her. i've got so many incredible stories of the things that she's taught me and just the way she raised the three of us kids. and i've tried to put my finger on it a number of times; what is it that made her such a great mom?? some of the answers i've come up with were

• she knew how to be what we needed, when we needed it: mom, friend, teacher, mentor, etc.
• she had a background in teaching so she was able to teach things very clearly and creatively.
• she was in evangelism ministry, so she viewed life as a ministry already.

but you know what mom would say if she was asked what she did right? (and believe me, i've asked!) she would say she had no idea what she was doing, she just loved God. the secret to being a better mom is to love and serve and follow and grow in relationship with God. He created our kids so He knows what they need. and what does He say? Seek first His kingdom.

so when Mom comes, i think this time i'll do less asking her questions about parenting and more time asking her about Him.

moving?

we want to move. we've been going back and forth on this issue for a while, but now it's official. we love our condo, but third floor is not ideal for a mother of a young child. and when the time comes for number two... yikes! how to get two kids up and down all those concrete steps... not to mention a stroller or groceries or anything else. plus, kids make quite a bit of noise. not bad noise, most of the time, but a lot of noise nonetheless. and while there technically isn't anything we can do about it, i feel bad for our downstairs neighbor (as well as thankful that she works full time and is only home on weekends!).

here's the problem... we LOVE our neighborhood. it has amazing sidewalks and trails, a community garden, two pools, tennis courts, etc, etc, etc. it's ideal for raising a family. unfortunately, the prices reflect that fact.

we have, however, found a place we want. we haven't technically seen it, yet, but it's a mirror image of the home of some friends of ours, so i feel like i've seen it. i would post the mls listing, but i don't want anyone getting any ideas and buying out from under us. it's always been a dream of ours to live in community. to just do life with people who have a similar faith and goals and dreams. to have other adults whom we trust be a part of caleb's regular life. to help each other in very practical ways. this world doesn't have enough of that and my heart greatly desires it. i want to grow and learn and i believe Jesus uses others to help accomplish that.

so, we're getting our condo ready to put on the market. it's nerve-wracking, to say the least! and since we don't NEED to move, there's no better time to try to sell. worse comes to worse and i have a newly painted bathroom that i love and new light fixtures. i can deal with that. the goal is to put it on the market beginning of august. so, if you happen to know anyone who is looking for a beautiful 2-bed 2-bath condo in our area, let me know!

thinking about all of this has made me so thankful i know the Lord. i can't imagine trying to do this without Him. i would be so worried and stressed. i love knowing He's got a plan and that i just need to do my part. and there's no other plan i'd rather be a part of than His.