just give me 1 minute...

to be a bursting at the seams proud mama.

Isabelle - who turned 3 in September - is READING!!!!!

With no coaching from me (and no pictures), she just now sounded out & read the words

apple

fish

nest

car

cat 

bee

girl

ball

And then, my little giggly boy. He is so fun!

He was cracking up at his 'jitter-bug' toy. Of course, as soon as I turned on the camera, he became immediately mesmerized by the red light...so skip ahead to 1 minute in & you'll see him cracking up at this toy. (Dear Santa, I guess I could use some video editing software!!)

jitter bug from Aron Kirk on Vimeo.

okay...

now at least I'm not going to pop with pride.

ejk

christmas questions...

We want to make the magic of Christmas come alive to our babies. The true magic. A few days ago as we were sitting in Belle's room making Christmas crafts singing along to the classics, Aron expressed frustration (to put it gently...I think he used the word "hatred") at the way Christmas is "hijacked" by Santa and gifts.

Now before we get any boos or hisses, we love to give gifts. We aren't anti-Santa. I think the way he worded it was, "Santa is a fun idea, but its really been bugging me how Christmas has become all about the stuff, and Santa gets all the glory. And then, 'oh yeah, kids, and don't forget its Jesus' birthday today." And we give Jesus an obligatory mention almost as an afterthought. 

"Hun," he continued, "What if we could teach our kids that all of this excitement, all of the lights, all of this (he motioned toward the decorations filling our girl's room) are because of Jesus. Because He is the best thing to ever grace planet earth, and this is why we celebrate. All of this...for Him."

Something deep in my spirit resonated with this. Sure, we tell are children Christmas is about Jesus, but I can't help but wonder, are they getting the message? What do you find your children speaking most about in regard to Christmas? Is it an unending want list? There is nothing wrong in anticipating the joy of opening gifts; that is part of the magic. But only an itty bitty, miniscule part. 

So I have no answers. But I'd love to hear your ideas. How do we paradigm shift our focus for our families? Because to be honest, we have so very much materialistically. Our children are becoming spoiled by the excess. And with excess, it is easy to become obsessed with our own pleasure and numb to the bigger picture.

I am not purposing we ditch Santa. He is a fun idea. But how do we put Jesus in his rightful place this season and Santa in his?

looking foward to your insight,

ejk

snapshots of our saturday

Pancake Saturday

Dancin' to the Carols 

Adding Judah's name to his stocking

Shopping for gifts

Finishing touches to the stocking

and a goodnight's rest to the end the day.

ejk

having a bad day?

maybe this will bring a smile to your face. 

Untitled from Aron Kirk on Vimeo.

I wanted to upload this video for my last post, but was having technical difficulties. Better late than never, I suppose.

ejk

my little love bug

Have I mentioned how much I love this boy? 

He is belly laughing now, and it is just the most precious thing. 
What a perfect Christmas gift for our family...our little Judah-Man-Ju.
Babies and Big Sisters are my favorite.

Thank you, Father

ejk

decking our halls

They used to call his dad "the mad mower"...by the look in his eye, it would appear aron has inherited that trait.
oh Christmas tree

Oh Christmas tree
how lovely
are thy branches
ejk

Hope Is Rising

For all of you who belong to MCC, here is the song Aron played today. We hope it continues to bring you peace and healing.

For everyone else, Aron wrote this song and played it today, and it speaks of the faithfulness of our God...even amidst our greatest failures. We have hope, not in our perfection, but in a God who loves his children relentlessly. A God takes what we have shattered and restores it to its intended glory.

Hope is Rising from Aron Kirk on Vimeo.

(verse 1)

You are there when I walk on the water.

You are there when I'm sinking in sin.

You are there when my heart hits the bottom,

And you lift me up again.

So quiet me with your love, with your love

In everything you are there and that's enough.

(chorus)

Jesus, you are the Bright and Morning Star

And Hope is rising in my heart.

In my darkest night I will lift my eyes,

And hope for dawn's first light to shine.

You are God in my joy on the mountain.

You are God in my valley full of pain.

You are God when I feel I'm forgotten.

And you sing to me again.

So quiet me with your love, with your love.

In everything you are God, in you I trust.

(chorus)

(bridge)

Hope is Rising.

I lift my eyes, and

On the horizon,

I see it coming.

Here it comes!

And the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings.

As we lift a song of praise in faith to the King of Kings!

Your love's greater than we can know.

Your grace even restores us now.

As we hope for the light of your love.

Shine on us!

(chorus)

(verse 1)

ejk

weekend recap

The weekend has been quite busy, but a good busy for sure. Aron has been planning/preparing for a passion night worship experience for weeks, and it finally came to fruition tonight (that's why you haven't heard much from him lately). After leading 2 services this morning and then leading and speaking for tonight's session...he is simply spent. He won't like me bragging on him, but I am so proud of the way he opens his heart and allows God to speak through his life. 

The next two days show no signs of slowing down, but we are sooooo looking forward to getting away for a few days over the Thanksgiving holiday & catching up on some much needed quality time.

peace

ejk

Rejoicing in the Harvest

I love the unique way autumn makes my heart come alive. Inviting smells, warm colors, soft light. The promise of the seed in spring now fully present in the fruit of the harvest.

What a treasure to stop our busy lives to consider the blessings of yet another year of life. Today I am thanking God for the breath that fills my lungs. He is truly my sustainer. 

We are attempting to teach Isabelle the high importance of the Thanksgiving holiday in our life - a time to truly thank God for his great love & his provision. 

We made a blessing turkey traced from her footprints and handprints, and each night at dinner we help her to think of something for which she is grateful, write it on her handprint, and paste in on the turkey as his "thankful feathers". Its small and silly, but we want to instill in her gratitude as an attitude for the rest of her life.

I am also thankful for this wildly idealistic man...with his heart to God and His head constantly wrapped around an idea or chiseling a melody...he truly amazes me. He has written a song this week that just blows my mind. I hope he gets to record it; it is quite possibly his best one yet.

rejoicing in the harvest

ejk