Come on in

We've just returned from a energy packed time in the gym. "We" consisted of Brandon, Jonathon, James, Jeff, and me. When we got there we shared the time with Dan, Ruth, Timothy, and Peter. For those of you who don't know these people, the first two are parents, and the later two are toddlers- 3 and 1. There were balls flying all over the place and it was a good time for just getting some energy out. Now the three of them are content to sit on the couch and listen to a story on CD. There are blocks on the floor and baby toys spread out in a corner. The room is fairly orderly since Brandon cleaned up while I was making dinner. We've turned off the overhead light and switched on three lamps and that gives the room a nice warm glow without making things too bright.
So...the boys...each of them is staring off into space. Jonathon is staring at different parts of the ceiling with his mouth half open and is tugging at his shirt. Normally he would be sucking his thumb as well, but he's too concentrated to remember to put it in his mouth. James is on the other end of the couch, sucking on the first two fingers of his righ hand. I think he's staring at my socks across the room and blinking hard as if the time in the gym was enough to put him back to sleep. He's been whiny since he awoke from his nap this afternoon and it's a relief to see him happy and quiet. Jeff is sitting in the middle of the other two boys and there is a blue fleece banket across all three sort of giving me hope that they will be more buddies and less enemies someday. Anyway, Jeff is feasting on the two middle fingers of his left hand and has a stack of Mega Blocks in his right hand. He goes back and forth from sucking to playing with the blocks.

At the very end of the couch is the fourth boy- or Brandon. He's not quite into the CD of "Wee Sing Nursery Rhymes" so he is reading an exciting book called "The Power of Tithing"- something he's suppose to talk about soon. He's been reading all sorts of books lately, the last one being a textbook on Negotiating Skills. This was fun because when I asked for something he would sometimes grin and say something like, "I don't know about that, you don't have very much leverage in this situation." Anyway, all four are on the couch and relatively quiet. The best part is that they all go to bed (not Brandon) in less than a half and hour!

In case you were wondering where the girl is in the picture. Rachel is up in her playpen asleep. She's due to eat soon, but for now she's quiet. I'm sitting in the recliner in my cozy clothes right down to soft socks with my feet propped up and of course the laptop in my lap.

It's times like this that I think, "I can do this." Earlier when I was trying to cook dinner and it took me 20 minutes just to get the can opener out of the drawer (not because it was lost, I just got interupted that much) I was thinking that I was ready to hide under a log in a dense forest, behind a waterfall and on the otherside of a large mountain. It's good that God gives us the calm in the midst of the storm to help us regain perspective. Afterall, it's not about the moment. It's about raising an army for Jesus and that takes more that just a couple of minutes with the kids!

Hope your evening is enjoyable. I'm determined mine is going to be so.