Home Life

Sometimes I have whole heaps of things to write about, but most often words just do not come.  I think it's because life is pretty routine.  I get up, spend a little quiet time on my own, then I wake up Shirley (except she's usually already awake).  The two of us eat breakfast, I do the dishes and clean the bedroom.  Then Shirley and I spend a little time together until she goes down for her nap.  I (sometimes) work out, take a shower, eat lunch, read a little, email a little, call anyone I need to...then I wake her up again (except she's usually already awake.)  I feed Shirley her lunch and let her run around while I clean something.  Pretty soon Kwacha is home (it's so nice that he gets home around 2).  He plays with Shirley while I start dinner.  We eat, sometimes go on a hike, sometimes read, sometimes go grocery shopping (since we have the one car).  Then we come home, feed Shirley her dinner, give her a bath, put her to bed and then spend time together talking or watching I Love Lucy.  It may get routine, but I generally love it.
When I feel some complaining in my heart coming on, mostly over dishes, I try to remind myself that I am married to a fantastic husband and I have a sweet little daughter.  That's why there are dishes in the sink.  Doing dishes is now a reminder of the blessings God has given me.  Blessings I don't deserve.
Still there are times I get anxious or impatient or worried about things, mostly future things, sometimes present things.  The worst part about being anxious is...being anxious.  And yet, God tells us we don't have to be!  I mean, isn't that amazing?  We can bring anything and everything to Him and He will take care of it.  I can't remember exactly how it goes but one of my favorite quotes from Elisabeth Elliot is something like, "Restlessness and impatience affect nothing but our joy and peace."  I love that.  It's just something I have been thinking about a lot lately.
This post is starting to feel random so I think I'll just end on some random things about life:

-I started attending Every Woman's Grace about a month ago.  It's been such a blessing.  I love the Bible studies we receive each week.  The questions are deep and applicable and they really help reveal sin that I need to repent of while reminding me of the character of God.  I love the fellowship with other moms and older, wise women.  I am so thankful that my friend, Michelle, is able to drive Shirley and me.  (And her daughter Lucy is about six months older than Shirley and super sweet.  The first week they held hands in the parking lot as we were walking to the car.  ::melt::)  If you are reading this and you aren't able to go, I would suggest printing the lessons off the Grace Church website.  Especially if you don't know what to study at the moment.

-Kwacha's sister, Jellita, is coming to visit a week from tomorrow!  She's never been to the US and she will be staying for two weeks.  We have all kinds of fun things planned but mostly I am excited to see Shirley interact with her Auntie.  She LOVED her when we visited Malawi.  I am also looking forward to extended time with her so I can get to know her better.  :)  Please pray for her flight!  It is a long way to travel solo!

-And if anyone is wondering about Shirley, she's her usual cheerful, spunky self.  She can make lots of animal noises now.  She also says, All done, Oh Boy! and Hi and Buh-bye.  She blows kisses and has started to say No! after I say no.  (We're working on that one.)  She's a little independent one but still very friendly and she fills our hearts with joy.

With daddy at the zoo.

On Becoming a Wife (Lessons I've Learned from my Husband)

You can hope and dream and pray and think (a little song is coming to mind) but I just don't think you can prepare enough for marriage.  There is something about being in the actual trenches that teaches you what you really need to know.  It reminds me of my days in the teaching credential program.  We learned lots of techniques and theories and they were all great and helpful.  But I had no idea what teaching was really like until I was up in front of that classroom with live children who all had real hearts and minds and...well...ants in their pants!  (You know what I mean.)

What I could not have anticipated was how much my husband would help me become a wife.  I'm not trying to diminish anything from my mom or other faithful women in my life.  Of course I learned much from their counsel and wisdom and still do.  But what can I say?  I married well, and I couldn't have imagined all that was in store for me just by marrying Kwacha.  

So over the next few weeks I'm going to cover a different skill or trait or whatever you want to call it that has started to improve in my life because of Kwacha.  Ultimately because of God since He works in Kwacha and in me and He gave Kwacha to me.  

The topics I will cover:

(Some are obviously more vital than others and the list below is in no particular order.)

1. Cleaning
2. Time Management
3. Discipline (Working Out and Eating Healthy)
4. Appearance
5. Getting Enough Sleep
6. Raising a Child
7. Cooking
8. Scheduling
9. Forgiveness
10. Love

So stay tuned.  If I have time during Shirley's next nap, I may post one today.  
Just a little p.s.  I am in no way trying to say that I am a great example in these areas or that I have learned all there is to know.  I mean, this should be obvious without me having to state it.  I just want to be helpful in the very few small things I have learned in my short time of being a wife.  

Thanks for reading! 

Shirley at 4 Months

Well, here's the bimonthly blog post with Shirley's update.  :)  She is at the age where she can hold her number nicely now.  At least for a few seconds!  So every month, whenever I take pictures of Shirley, most of them turn out except the ones with her dog.  I figured out that he's throwing off the white balance!  Anyway, thankfully a few managed to turn out.

Shirley loves her daddy!  They have a lot of fun together going on "roller coasters" and making funny faces and sounds.  

Every day Shirley and I read some books together.  I brought out a few of my favorites recently.  They are a little old for her.  She much prefers baby Einstein books, but she'll listen to these for a couple minutes at least. 

I love my little snuggle bug.  This doesn't happen too often.  Only when she's really tired, but I try to soak in those moments!

I love giving her kisses.  Sometimes it makes her laugh.  She's making a lot more cooing sounds, but not so much of the "ba, ya, da, ma" sounds yet.  Hopefully soon.

This month, Shirley learned how to roll over from her back to her stomach.  I guess the more common thing is for babies to roll from their stomach to their back first but she doesn't do much of that.  It's made it much easier at nighttime though.  She immediately rolls to her stomach and sleeps that way the whole night.  No more swaddling for this girlie!

She definitely loves to grab things now...

...and stick them in her mouth!

Oh Shirley.

We love you!

Illustration

Last night Kwacha and I had some of our favorite younger people over - Alyssa, Parker and Reagan!  All three of them were in our wedding.  We found out that Parker's fave place to eat is Jimmy Dean's.  (Our friend, Lisa, said that this is why discipleship is important.  ;)  So for his belated birthday present, we took him and his sisters there for dinner and then they came over to our place for games and baking.  (Pumpkin cookies to be exact.)

After the baking, Reagan asked for some paper so she could draw.  Later on she asked for some tape so she could...tape.  When their mom came to pick them up she handed me a "package." 

 

Inside were some pictures and notes she made for us. 

After they left and Kwacha and I were just sitting on the couch, Kwacha started talking about Reagan's package and how sweet it is.  We know she made it for us because she loves us.  It's not perfect; the tape was sticking out, the pictures are simple, but we know the heart behind it and that's what made it sweet. 

Kwacha was saying that it's like us with God.  We seek to please Him in obedience, but it's not perfect.  Our righteousness is like filthy rags, but if we've put our trust in His Son and seek to honor Him, he sees our hearts.  It's a good test for me.  Am I doing what I do, seeking to honor Jesus because I love Him so much?  Or am I doing what I do to seek His favor, to try to earn something?

Reagan's pictures were mainly of fruit and butterflies and pizza, but she also drew something else.  I don't know if you can see it below.  It's right below the pizza.

 

I asked if Reagan wrote "donut".  (I assumed that's what "donet" meant.)  She said "No, it's 'done' with a cross."

I just liked how that summed up what Kwacha said last night.  And I didn't really think about it until this morning.  Jesus has already done it all on the cross.  Now we just get to obey Him in love.

 

And here's what Alyssa was doing while Reagan was drawing.

 

Taking pictures of my silly faces.

 

 

 

Walnut Street

 

Kwacha and I live on Walnut Street.  To anyone who went to Grace Community Church or The Master's College, Walnut Street immediately brings to mind the term "Seminary Row".  To be honest, I did not want to live on Walnut Street.  Ever.  It just seemed so...typical.  Typical grace girl.  Grow up, marry a seminary student, live on Walnut Street and eventually move to another state or country. 
But you know what?  I have come to love Walnut Street in all its glory.  I know it sounds crazy but I am actually quite fond of the ding.....ding....ding of the ice cream truck and the Mexican hat dance song of the produce truck.  I love taking a walk in our neighborhood every night with Kwacha.  Kids and families are always out and about.  The mama's pushing their babies in strollers with 3-5 other kids in tow, the papa's playing catch or soccer with their boys in the front yards, and my favorite dog, "table dog", walking to and fro behind his family's white picket fence.  (One day I caught him lying on the table outside, hence the nickname.  Very creative, I know.)
We love to walk to the local park and watch a group of older men playing soccer and teenagers at baseball and soccer practice.  We walk through the grass and my feet get poked by all the fallen pine needles.  Kwacha knows I love to walk right near the sprinklers going off at Hart High School.  It's so refreshing! 

Last night we walked down to the local farmer's market in Old Town Newhall.  The area is so nice now with the brick sidewalks and lanterns.  There were lots of fruits and veggies and yummy Mexican food.  Then we enjoyed walking back through the neighborhood admiring the pretty yards. A lot of men around Walnut Street work on other people's yards during the day and they have made their own yards so beautiful!  I try to take in as many ideas as I can for our own yard that I'm hoping we'll have someday in Malawi. 
And of course, it's just so nice holding hands with my husband. 
Walnut Street, I've grown to love you, and I'm going to miss you one day.

 

The Face of Newhall

 

 

I have no idea what this man has to do with Newhall, but his picture came up when I searched Newhall, CA, so he must be important.