We are overjoyed to announce the newest addition to this Moberg family…I have the honor of growing another sweet little love in my womb!!!
I have just crossed the 11 week mark in my pregnancy, and I’m not going to lie–the last 5 weeks have had their fair share of challenges. Nothing compared to my pregnancy with my perfect sweet little Elliott, but nonetheless…challenging. The toilet bowl has once again regained the title of “bff” (it’s a love-hate relationship) and I am a slave to food. I am fatigued beyond fatigue and carry my Tums with me every where I go to try to keep my lunch from crawling back up my throat. Life is challenging right now. YET…I wrote the following thoughts the very first day that I threw up this pregnancy, and I wanted to share them, both as a reminder for myself and hopefully as an encouragement to others. It has only gotten harder since, but nonetheless, I cling to the truth of the promises here. I hope that these words bring comfort, revelation, and a new joy to all those women out there who have tough pregnancies.
February 11, 2012
Scripture talks about the fact that the greater we suffer with Christ, the greater glory will be revealed in us. Suffering, in any form, teaches us to identify with our Savior, who, as an innocent man, suffered a grueling death that he did not deserve. And then there’s the verse in Hebrews 12: “For the joy set before him, he endured the cross…”
I’ve had this verse running through my head for about a year and a half now. Ever since I realized that I was one of the chosen ones to endure 9 months of vomiting in order to pop a baby out, I haven’t been able to get this Scripture out of my head. Because I knew we would have more kids–we weren’t going to stop at one–but with every addition, I would KNOW exactly what I was about to endure. And yet–yet–it is the JOY that is set before me that gives me the strength to endure.
It’s been 10 months and 21 days (but who’s counting?) since I’ve thrown up. And as I clung to the toilet seat this afternoon, the Scripture that accompanied every vomit with Elliott ran through my head again. I heard myself say out loud, “Okay…” in between hurls. An acknowledgment that it’s time to really start enduring. So many thoughts and emotions and resolves hung up in that word, “Okay.” “Okay, Sus, it’s time to put your game face on…” “Okay, just 8 1/2 more months to go…” “Okay, you can do this…” “Okay, you’re going to make it…’ “Okay…this is for you, Sweet Baby Beta…this is all for you.”
And, as motherhood continues to do, Jesus reveals his love for me to me even more. Because I am doing this all for one…one precious life, that I do not take for granted. Don’t get me wrong–I wouldn’t mind cramming a few more babies in there so that at least I could suffer once for two or three! But–it is all so worth it for my one. This little one is worth it, this little one is worth it all. To say Elliott was worth 9 months of throwing up is the most obscene understatement of all time. To say he was “worth” waiting 10 extra days for him to come, painfully laboring for 8 of those, all to end up in an emergency c-section…to say he was “worth” all of that? No way. I need a much stronger, much more powerful word. I can’t think of a single thing I wouldn’t endure to bring his life into this world.
And so I understand Christ’s love more than ever before. Because He suffered for all of us, but He would have died just for me. Because he loves me that much. Because I–alone–am worth it to Him. And the fact that I know that my re-birth into my new life in Christ came because of His sacrifice sobers me.
So now I wait for Baby Beta. I endure for Baby Beta. And I endure with joy. I do not look at this pregnancy as if it were an inconvenience to my life…it is my honor, myjoy to bring life into this world. And the fact that this life will come as a result of suffering? Well, I say, the greater glory that will come!! I want Elliott, and Baby Beta, to grow up knowing that they were WORTH my sacrifice. And I did not sacrifice begrudgingly or with complaint, but with joy in my heart for the prize that was set before me. (And, oh!! What a prize!!) And I pray that this understanding would begin to give them both revelation of the gift that our Savior gave to them…a gift that came with a cost. But it was for the joy set before Him that he endured…and so I pray that they would each know their value and their worth. That if they had each been the only one on earth, Jesus would have died for them.
Our sweet baby Elliott turns ONE on March 20th! Although we are SO excited to simply celebrate the past year of his life, we also feel prompted to turn his birthday celebration outward and change the lives of a family in need. Elliott, in reality, has everything he needs. So we thought, “What if we direct the money that would be spent on Elliott towards a family who doesn’t even have a home?”
Would you like to be a part of changing the lives of a family forever by helping build them a home in honor of Elliott’s first birthday?
Here’s how you can help:
1. Pray for us! We need to raise $5,700 to build the home. For an additional $1,800 we can purchase furniture and appliances for the home (beds, curtains, stove, etc.). Please pray that we raise the money and also that this is a life-changing event for the family we’re building a home for and for all of us who have the honor to build and donate!
2. Donate money towards the house! Elliott does not have the expectation that anyone would buy him a present for his birthday. However, if you were/are considering buying him a gift or card, would you instead donate that money towards the cost of the house? Even if you weren’t going to get him a gift, would you consider donating money towards the cost of the house? We will give him one card signed from everyone who donates toward the house.
If you would like to donate, you can do so online under the “Support” tab here on our website. Be sure to clarify that the money is for the house build, not our regular support. Or, feel free to send us a check (again, noting that it’s for the house build):
Brian + Susanne Moberg
YWAM–TJ Base
P.O. Box 5417
Chula Vista, CA 91912
Some further -very honest- thoughts…
Brian and I got this idea in our spirits several months ago. We really sat on the thought and prayed about it because we knew it would be a lot of work–both to organize the house build and to raise the money. Not to mention the time and money it would cost those who are coming to build with us. But we really felt like our idea was from God. We want our family to be marked by giving away. We want Elliott to know from the youngest of ages that although he is the absolute gem and treasure of our lives, although we adore him to the point of not being able to take our eyes off of him, although we want him to have EVERYTHING he needs as well as some fun toys throughout his life…he is NOT the center of the universe. We want him to know that our lives are meant to be lived outward. We want him to have conviction over the fact that it is more blessed to give than to receive. We want him to experience the joy in giving, in pouring out, in changing the lives of any person that God puts in our path.
As strong as this conviction is in my spirit, I’ll be honest–it’s been hard for me at times thinking about it. Those of you who know me, know that I L-O-V-E throwing a good party! 😉 It’s one of the ways that I love to love people. Whereas some may look at a perfectly planned out, thought out event as unnecessary or a waste of time, energy, and resources, blessing others in this way is truly one of the things that brings me life and joy. So, fittingly, I’ve dreamt many times over Elliott’s short lifetime of his very first birthday party. Of the cool presents I want to get him, of the awesome cake I want to make, of the theme–thought out to every detail. And not that I won’t ever be able to do that for him, but this year–it’s in our spirits to keep it SIMPLE. I was looking at party blogs (a DANGEROUS passtime for me) and I started to get a little sad that I wouldn’t be able to throw him this extravagant birthday party. But then, I realized–this is exactly why we’re doing this. As soon as I thought about a family with several kids sleeping on a cardboard floor and then aligned Elliott’s extravagant construction birthday party next to that picture…I was sick to my stomach. AGAIN–I’m definitely not saying that Elliott will never get a themed birthday party that’s all about him one day (trust me!) but THIS YEAR…God is doing something in our family. Probably mostly in me :). Even if I were going to just spend $100 on Elliott’s birthday party, this year I would rather spend that $100 on the paint that will cover the wooden slabs of the walls of the home that will be a family’s very first real shelter from the wind and the rain. I think about the $25 I might spend on party favors for our guests, and I would rather spend that $25 on sheets for the very first beds that these children have ever slept on. I think about the $50 I might spend on the cutest themed, extravagant food and I would rather put that $50 towards a stove for the family who has never even dreamed of having such a luxury.
I am writing this with tears streaming down my face, broken over the fact that my heart still wrestles at times over wanting Elliott to have “extravagant” when so many families don’t even have “basic”. So here you go, world–the honest struggles of this mommy :). I am so, so, so grateful that God has put this in our hearts this year. I am so, so, so grateful that He is doing this transformation in my heart. I am so, so, so overwhelmingly grateful that He’s going to use us–and many of you!–to literally redirect the course of this family’s lives forever.
The two young Mexican men who are students in our DTS class are here, ultimately, because their families were without homes when they were young and Homes of Hope (that’s the name of this ministry in YWAM) built them one. And that, again, floods my eyes with tears. I wish you could meet these two guys. They are WORLD-CHANGERS. Jonas has a burning fire inside of him that youth would know the REAL God…not the God who disciplines and tells you you’re going to Hell if you don’t follow him. But the God of mercy, grace, justice, and JOY. He is passionate about showing youth that living your life with God can be the ADVENTURE of your lifetime, much more rewarding than any pleasure you could get from the world. Then there’s Luis. Oh, Luis. This tough-looking Mexican man has one of the softest hearts of anyone I’ve met. He weeps over his family, his friends, and the lost. He weeps with a deep love and a fierce compassion. You will find him in the lowest of the lowest of places, serving, loving, and praying. Both of these men will–mark my my words–change the face of this nation. They are rising to positions of confidence, believing that they are, indeed, LEADERS. Believing that they have a call on their lives. Believing that God plucked them out of the mire and set them on firm ground.
And they are here because someone built them a home.
What if that group of people who built them a home that weekend had said, “No”? Where would these two be today? I’ve often wondered that…
Well, my friends. All that to say, we are organizing a house build in honor of our sweet Elliott’s first birthday. I hope you will consider donating towards this house. The house build takes place in just under a month. PLEASE–consider this opportunity to alter the course of the lives of a family in need.
When Brian, Elliott and I first crossed the border into Mexico last July to check out this YWAM base and begin the decision process of packing up our lives to become missionaries, Sean and Janet Lambert took us to the most important place on the tour first. We crossed the border and they said, “Before you see anything else, we’d like you to meet Josefina.”
I see now how that was so representative of Sean and Janet’s hearts. Yes, yes…we eventually saw the two Mexico YWAM campuses and over time we heard stories of the ways this particular YWAM base functions. We learned about Sean and Janet’s history and how they started this base. But first–first–it was important that we SEE. It was most important that we SEE the fruit of this ministry. KISS the cheek of the woman who can now safely lock her family in their home at night. TOUCH the hands of these beautiful children who no longer have to dig through trash for food and toys. So we met Josefina and her beautiful son and daughter. And that, my friends, was the moment my heart was captured.
Grab a box of tissues and watch these two videos below if you would like to meet Josefina, too.
BEFORE
AFTER
Finally. (Is this the world’s longest blog post?) Finally, I believe that we as a society are often so overwhelmed by the needs in this world that we shut down and do nothing because we know we can’t possibly help “them all.” I wrote a post several months ago, The Greatest, The One, that articulates this wrestle in my own spirit. Though Brian and I have both wept over the vast amount of poverty we see in this world, we are committed to helping the one in front of us. When I met Josefina and her two darling children, I was not overwhelmed by the vast need in Mexico. I was overwhelmed at how the sacrifice of one weekend, a little bit of hard work, and some money from a group of Canadians changed this ONE family forever.
Will you consider helping us build a home for ONE family? Will you consider helping the ONE?
You know what comes next, don’t you? I can barely even type the words…
THE.
ONE.
YEAR.
MARK.
Good grief! My baby is so BIG!!!
Elliott continues to be a crawling, climbing, laughing, smiling, babbling bundle of contagious joy. He’s been working hard this month on feeding himself real food, repeating sounds, trying to do everything we’re doing, and learning how to stand on his own.
He’s been super close to standing on his own for a while, and he’d do it for mili-seconds at a time, but at the beginning of February he started FOR REAL standing on his own. He was standing, playing with his Alphabet Train and just decided to let go! We both started clapping and then he thought that was the most fun game ever. He would just stand there and clap and laugh with us as we cheered him on. He did it so many times before it occurred to me to get the camera so I jumped up and grabbed it and captured this beautiful moment:
Yay!!!!!
Possibly my favorite picture of all time. I love his joy!!!!!
Bath time is becoming one of Elliott’s favorite activities. For those 8 weeks we were traveling over seas we just showered with him because there were no tubs available. So, when we arrived to Tacoma to stay at my dear friend Courtney’s house, we were overjoyed to have a real TUB. We put him in it, and…he cried. A LOT. But he got used to it within a few minutes, and after about 15, splashing in the tub was his new favorite.
The thing I love most about our new house is our bathtub. It is incredible. I’ve never seen a bathtub like this–it’s SQUARE! And huge! So bath time is like swimming in a swimming pool :).
His favorite part is looking at his "friend" in the metal mirror…he usually gives him lots of kisses :).I LOVE this picture because it shows all of his teeth!This makes me laugh 🙂"Ooohhh…"Towel snuggles with Mom……and Dad
Eating has continued to be quite a steep learning curve…he still gags and chokes when we try to give him food other than purees. But since he loves doing EVERYTHING we do these days, he always wants to eat what I’m eating. So one day when I was eating a pear and he wanted some, I figured I’d let him try a few bites…
And he did AWESOME! No choking or gagging, and he wanted more!!
I KNOW we need to work on this skill, so one day I gave him small pieces of banana and he gagged on them and threw up. So then it occurred to me to give him a big chunk of banana (totally counter-intuitive, right?) because he LOVES taking bites of my pear. Sure enough…he safely ate the whole thing without gagging even once. Doesn’t make any sense to me, but I’m just going along with it…
Yes, those are Christmas jammies. Because we LOVE Christmas in this household and it WILL be celebrated year-round!
Some playful parts of the month:
A good family friend, Sherrie Paul, sent Elliott this A-MAZING alphabet book…he LOVES it (almost as much as I do!)
His favorite page is the "F is for football" page (You'd be proud, Coach & Mrs.!)"Don"t worry, I've got this, Mom."
A little photo shoot that we had with Auntie Melisa:
Learning to walk with one handLaughing so hard at Melisa's sillinessThis is his new favorite way to sit.
Now for some less-glorious parts of the month:
Have you EVER seen a fatter lip than this one?!He had a cold for about a week, and this was what he constantly looked like…a snot moustache and a drool goatee…
And, last but not least…a few of my favorite Elliott faces from the month. For some reason, the nickname I hear Brian and I call Elliott the most lately is, “Buddy Face.” No idea how that came about, but here are some cute faces from The Buddy Face himself…
"Oh yeah!""What's up?"Plotting…I love this face.My sweet 11 month old!
Our son is officially in the double digits!! The big 1-0!! 10 MONTHS!!! The next time we’ll be able to say that will be when he is 10 years old, which feels like it’s going to happen in the blink of an eye. March 20, 2021 is practically next week!
Well, big surprise—Elliott continues to be our absolute greatest delight. The other day I got to stay home with him all day by myself (unfortunately because I am sick, but that’s beside the point) and it amazes me still that I have never gotten tired of him…not even once in his 10 months of life. I have never had that moment, “I just a need a break from him!” In fact, I still hate leaving him…I still would rather be with him than do just about anything else.
We simply adore him. I think I say that every time I write about him, but that’s the way it is…If you were a fly on our wall, those are the words you would hear coming out of our mouths. He is simply the best. He is simply the most wonderful. He is simply the greatest gift of a child.
Elliott is happiest when he is moving. He’s really always been like that, but the desire to move has increased! He walks along everything and pulls himself up onto everything. He loves opening and closing cabinets and drawers. One of his favorite games is “The Chase Game.” He squeals with delight, trying to catch his breath while he laughs and crawls as fast as he can as I run after him and say, “I’m gonna get you!” He still loves “Peekaboo,” and any game where the object is to laugh and laugh and laugh…
Here are some of Elliott’s favorites this month:
Giving kisses.
Oh my word, I wish I could put into words how wonderful it is when Elliott gives kisses. He opens his mouth as big as it can go, sticks his tongue out ever so slightly, and plants his open mouthed French kiss anywhere you’ll let him. He prefers the cheek and the mouth. And when he’s feeling especially affectionate, he will do it over and over and over again…Ahhh, it is my favorite.
Clapping.
He kind of looks like he's on the verge of crying here, but he's actually just really, really happy, ha!!
He started clapping last month and now it is one of his favorite things to do. For some strange reason, he loves to clap when I am changing his diaper… ?? He literally does it every time I put him on the changing table. It is so hilarious, and I was telling Brian about it and told him we should video it because it’s so funny. Well, sure enough—something about having Brian in the room and the camera made him camera shy because he didn’t do it anything like he normally does, and we tried twice! I’ll put a video below of the best video we got, but I’m telling you, this doesn’t even come close to doing the cuteness justice.
Whistling.
What 9 ½ month old whistles? Brian Moberg’s son, that’s who. (Brian’s won whistling contests, you know!) Yes, you heard me correctly, Elliott is whistling. This whole month his favorite and most common face is the “o” face…you know, when you put your lips like a little tiny “o”…like when you want to whistle. Well one day, the whistle came out. I couldn’t believe it. And he now whistles an average of 2 or 3 times a day… Yep, you heard it here first, folks.
Whistling Face as he goes into the Mexico Home Depot for the first timeSuper Excited Whistling Face as the nice Home Depot Lady hands him his very own balloon!
Climbing out of his car seat.
"Yes? May I help you?"
As soon as I start to unbuckle him, he does his part to get out. It’s pretty darn cute. The lighting isn’t the best at the end of the video, but here’s a video of him climbing out:
Food.
We have finally had some success in the eating of solid foods this month…we’ve gotten him to take some Puffs (like little cereal pieces that dissolve in his mouth) and a few bites of a Mum-Mum (a dissolving rice cracker).
Evidence
And then one day…he finally decided to start feeding himself and, of course, I pulled out the camera after he did it once, hoping he’d do it again:
"Are you REALLY getting this on camera, Mom?""*sigh* Okay. I'll eat one by myself again so you can take a picture.""You know, these really aren't my favorites still…""Ehh, you know…slimy, yet satisfying."
Friends.
Folks, this little buddy just loves people. I am constantly amazed that he is never afraid of new friends and more than that—he loves them instantly! As soon as we walk into the room with him, he waves at every person he sees…it is the cutest. Here are a few shots of some of his favorite same-sized friends and some of his favorite new friends!
The first two are from Christmas time.
Quinn! Quinn is Elliott's true Bosom Buddy. And they are less than 2 weeks apart!Cody! Cody's favorite way to play with Elliott was to sit on him…and Elliott didn't seem to mind at all, ha!Our new DTS friends
To sum up, Elliott is the cutest 10 month old that ever existed. Still don’t believe me? Here are some pictures over the last month to prove it…
Loving his Home Depot balloon!!"Helping" me by taking all of the dirty rags BACK OUT of the bin…Playing with Daddy's tool set from when HE was a boy…LOVE.I love how Elliott delights in life…Chewing on this disgusting, germ-infested apple leaf……and loving it.Playing with his new alphabet train! Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa Moberg!So pure.Playing the mirror game with Daddy…one of his favorites.This is his "polite smile."
And, finally, my top four favorite pics from this month:
So wonderful, he is.So kind…So filled with joy…All in all, he is perfect.
We love you, sweet little love of ours. Happy double digits birthday, to you!!!!!
Here’s a little glimpse into our world here! We spend pretty much every day on the YWAM base so we thought we’d let you into our lives through some pictures :). The Defender Center, which is the main building on the YWAM base here, is where all of our meetings and meals are held. It is a beautiful, brand-new building.
The Defender Center (a company called Defender donated the money for the building to be built…hence, the name)Not a bad view, eh? This is the view from the Defender CenterInside the Defender Center: the reception area and a cute little sitting area.Inside the Defender Center: The Coffee Shop!Inside the Defender Center: Not the best picture, but this is the main area where we have big meetings and eat all of our meals. It's hard to tell how big the room is, but it's quite large.
Our Classmates:
The beautiful women! Malene (from Norway), Chrystal, Angela, and Rayel (all from Minnesota)The manly men! Luis, Jonas (Mexico) and Josh (Canada)
The fearless staff leading our DTS:
Giezi (the leader of our school) and his lovely wife Amanda. Amanda is leading a different school right now, but I wanted to include her because I think she's pretty cool :). We LOVE this couple and can't wait to glean from them and get to know them better!Scott (WA), Josh (OK), Lora (CA) and Chrissy (Germany)! We are blessed to have such an amazing staff leading us!! We love them all!
Fun Facts:
* We live in a quiet housing community with a guard shack called San Marino. Our house is 1.5 miles (from front door to front door) from the YWAM base.
* However, when we head home from the YWAM base, there is no exit for our housing complex so we have to go past our house and turn around at another exit. Thus, the drive home is 3.5 miles!
* We have a little family of bunnies living in our neighborhood :).
* We are 24.3 km (which is 14.6 miles for all you Americans out there) from the border crossing. Now that we have our fast pass to get across into the U.S., our average wait to cross will be more like 15 minutes instead of 2 plus hours. With this pass, crossing the border into the U.S. will be a similar length drive as the drive from Tacoma to Seattle…usually about 45-60 minutes.
* However, crossing BACK into Mexico goes MUCH quicker because they are much less picky about who enters their country. 🙂 It takes about 25 minutes to get from the YWAM offices in National City to our house, and we usually don’t even get stopped at the border!
* The food on the YWAM base is actually pretty darn good! (I’m soooo thankful!!) The cook is a great guy named Thomas who is from Colorado (holla!), went to culinary school, and decided to serve the YWAM base rather than work in some fancy restaurant!
* There is a Starbucks (Susanne is happy) and a Costco (Brian is happy) north of us in Tijuana, which is about 20 minutes away.
* There is a little city called Rosarito (a few minutes south of us) which is where we will likely do most of our grocery shopping. There is also a Walmart, an Applebees, and a Burger King in Rosarito.
* They have TONS of little taco stands everywhere with real, legit Mexican tacos (I would hope so!). You order as much food as you want, eat it, go back for more food, and then pay when you’re all through. But there is no bill! They just trust everyone to be honest and tell them what they ate. I think that’s totally crazy!!
* If there’s one reason to come visit us, it’s to go to the movie theaters–they are SO CHEAP here!! We haven’t been yet, but we’ve heard that they’re quite nice and only $3!
* In our old house in Tacoma, we saw the sun rise every morning over the Puget Sound. In our new home, we watch the sun set every evening over the Pacific Ocean!
* It is COLD here! Do not be deceived by the whole “Mexico-is-hot” facade!! I wear sweaters, my Uggs, and scarves every day!! We are right on the ocean, and so I think the breeze carries in the cool air from the water. During these winter months, it is for sure CHILLY!!
* We have plenty of room for YOU if you’d like to come visit! You will always have a place to stay :).
DISCLAIMER! I wrote this post the day after Christmas, and then was without internet to upload the photos! So, it’s late…but better late than never :). Enjoy!
I remember last Christmas so vividly…not the presents, not the people, not the events…no, all of my thoughts were consumed with the idea that next Christmas we would have Elliott with us…not inside my womb, but here with us. He would be 9 months old and he would wear Christmas jammies and he would destroy the wrapping paper we used to cover up his very first Christmas gifts…he would smile at us and wave at us and snuggle with us. He would dance to jingle bells in our arms and he would follow along as we read, “That’s Not My Reindeer” to him. We would get to celebrate this beautiful time of the year with him instead of waiting for him…
And I can’t even count the amount of times that tears have flooded my eyes this Christmas season as I realize that he is, indeed, here with us this Christmas. For the first year ever, I couldn’t think of a SINGLE thing to put on MY Christmas list, but I had an entire document filled with things that I wanted to get Elliott…I have everything I want right here in my sweet, perfect, little family. At the end of the day, all I care about is snuggling in Christmas jammies with Elliott and his handsome daddy…
Last year, however, when I was picturing this year’s Christmas, I could have never envisioned that we would be in three different countries within the month of December. I could have never envisioned that we wouldn’t have a home, or a Christmas tree, or a place to hang our stockings, or that we would get take-out on Christmas Eve. I could have never envisioned that we would just wrap two small gifts for Elliott because that’s literally all we had time to do. And I’ll be honest–there have indeed been a few times when I’ve had the slightest moment of sadness that I haven’t had a home to decorate and Christmas music playing 24 hours a day throughout our home since November. I haven’t had the time or the opportunity to carefully select and beautifully wrap Christmas presents. It hasn’t been a neat, tidy, perfectly orchestrated Christmas season…but it has been PERFECT for US. It has been perfect for Elliott, and it has been perfect for our family. We got to spend the hours we would normally spend shopping, putting up Christmas lights, cutting down a tree, and decorating instead being entirely outward focused…serving, loving, and bringing the gospel to those in real need. We got to simplify this year…majorly simplify…so that it is just our wonderful little family, waking up on Christmas morning in the home of a dear friend who let us stay in her house, opening a few simple gifts, and simply enjoying being together.
So now that you’re probably feeling pretty darn guilty that you have been running around like a crazy person this Christmas season, cutting in line at Toys R Us, and making sure that your kid had the most popular toy of 2011 sitting under the tree, and SERVING someone in need has perhaps been far from your mind, let me just be honest. I probably wouldn’t choose to do my Christmas like this every year…I’m not quite THAT holy, you know :). This isn’t going to turn into a sermon about Jesus being the reason for the season (although he IS, you know). (Sorry, couldn’t help myself.) I am grateful that God gave us an opportunity to serve and travel this Christmas season, but you’d better believe I’m already picturing where our Christmas tree will go next year in our new rental house…and I’m already thinking about how I want to wrap Elliott’s presents…and I’m already thinking about the new Christmas CD I want to listen to next year… and I’m already thinking about the peppermint brickle that I’m going to bake…and the garland and the lights I will put up around our house…Ahh, only 364 more days to go!! But for now, I am simply and overwhelmingly GRATEFUL. Grateful for our family, grateful for each of our families, grateful for our friends, grateful for the adventure the Lord has us on, grateful that Grammy Karen got us some Peppermint Bark so we had a fun dessert after eating take-out on Christmas Eve.
Here are a few picture highlights from our Christmas 2011!
COLORADO CHRISTMAS!
We got to spend our Colorado Christmas with ALL of my family!
"Yeah, as cool as that new smart phone is, I really like this piece of wrapping paper…"Laughing SO hard with Grammy Karen!The Whole Crew!
Mauss Cousins
Andrew, Elliott, Gryffin, Rowan, Courtney, Fable, Jaxon and Finn
TACOMA CHRISTMAS!
Melisa gave me some Christmas paper so I could make ONE Christmas decoration that was my very own…REJOICE, indeed!
Christmas Eve
He just really cares more about small, choke-able objects than the gifts under the tree…Opening a present with his cousin Micah"I can play the drums on this present!"
Moberg Cousins
Elliott, Taylor, Hailey, and MicahI love this kid so much!Brian and I are wearing Bronco colors instead of Christmas colors…oops.Reading the Christmas story out of his new picture bible before going to bed. (Thank you, Grandpa & Nonna!)
Christmas Morning 2011
Going after the presents under the tree"Hmm…which one is for me?""Probably this one…it smells like a BOOK!""Cool! A mirror book! I LOVE mirrors!""Oooh! I like Daddy's new boots! Can I try them on?""Whoa! A megaphone for Mommy so she can preach on the streets? What an awesome gift you picked out, Daddy!"Our family on Christmas morning…Still in our pjs, of courseMerry 1st Christmas!
Well, Elliott has –almost–officially been out of my tummy longer than he was in it! On December 20, Elliott turned 9 months old! 9 months of watching this perfect little baby grow into a perfect bigger baby…9 months of cuddling him and rocking him and documenting every milestone…AND…not to mention, 9 MONTHS OF NOT THROWING UP!!! Yahoo!!!
I love how every month we learn something new about Elliott’s personality, or see it to a greater degree. Elliott continues to love meeting new people and getting strangers to smile at and fall in love with him. Last month, although he was doing “wave-like” motions, I wasn’t quite ready to declare that my son was intentionally waving. Well, for the last several weeks, there is no doubt about it–he is a waving machine! And he waves to every person, new or old, that he sees.
One of Elliott’s passions has absolutely taken over life this last month–handling small objects. He loves the “pincer grasp.” He is SO in tune to itty bitty things…he will literally go after a piece of thread from 15 feet away. He also LOVES small pieces of trash. What kind of mom lets her baby play with small, chokable things? Well, this mom does. And do you know why? Because he refuses to put them in his mouth! And I know you are thinking I must be so fortunate that he doesn’t want to put small things in his mouth…and I am, until it comes to trying to get him to put REAL FOOD in his mouth, and he gags until he throws it back up.
Look at the terror/disgust in his eyes as I offer him a puff:
"You want me to put that puff WHERE?""In my MOUTH? You've GOT to be kidding me…""Blech! No way!!"
When I was pregnant, someone said to me, “You know, the way your pregnancy has been so rough will probably have some sort of reflection on what Elliott is going to be like…like, he’ll probably have a really bad gag reflex or something.”
Why anyone in her right mind would say that to a woman who had been throwing up for 9 months will remain in the mystery box forever. But, quite unfortunately, it looks like she was right…this poor child has already thrown up twice when there was a tiny little “chunk” in his baby food…
Okay, on to some fun highlights from the last month:
Elliott opened his first Christmas gift at all staff Christmas party that we got to be a part of while in Tijuana for the two weeks before Christmas.
All of the kids got a special gift
Distracted by the super cool used napkin in his hand."Oooh, there was something INSIDE the paper?!""I LIKE this whole present tradition!"
Elliott had his first stab at climbing stairs at my parents’ house, and he went right up them without any hesitation. He loves to climb!
Climbing the stairs with Fable
Made it to the top!
Elliott CLIMBS all the time…on EVERYTHING…it’s so fun! He loves to pull himself up onto everything and walk along anything he can.
Helping us pack in the DR before leaving for Tijuana.
Climbing is so fun!
First time in snow!
Gently placing Elliott in the snow…UTTER AND COMPLETE SHOCKAND…some tearsOkay, LOTS of tears…
I know, I know…we’re terrible. But we had to get a picture of it.
First time meeting the Smiths!
Cousins Andrew & Courtney and Aunt Joanne & Uncle Jim
And, last but not least…a few favorites from this last month:
Baa!Sweet smileCute faceMan on a missionYeah, he's cute.He-ey!
Happy 9 months out of the womb, sweet baby Elliott!!
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me…. See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.“
The first time I walked to the Haitian Refugee camp, it was the smell that hit me first.
I would recognize the smell anywhere. The smell of “house” after “house” crammed into tight spaces, adjacent to a garbage dump…the smell of mismatched cardboard or slabs of tin that form the walls and the roof of each said “house,” each piece carefully overlapping the one next to keep the rain, wind, and sun out as best as possible. The smell of hungry children and runny noses and congested lungs… The smell of eyes longing for love, arms longing for an embrace, hands longing to be held. It’s the smell of poverty. Poverty of environment and poverty of spirit.
This is one of the nicer houses
And every time I walk into a place like this, I am struck with the same sentiment–I am not enough. I am not enough, the five friends with me are not enough, the games we’ve brought to play are not enough…we are simply not enough.
The first week I was there we painted the girls’ fingernails and played jump rope with them.
Juliana
It’s difficult enough for me to dig up the language in my brain that has been dormant way too long, let alone understand these sweet children’s Spanish, which is not only their second language but also “Dominican” Spanish–which is quite different than Spain and Mexican Spanish. I can’t give them anything… I can barely communicate with them, and their needs are far too great.
So we sat there on the ground and painted these little girls’ toes and fingers…one by one, they chose a color and held out their hands. Is this enough? I don’t want to paint their nails–I want to buy them new clothes and give them healthy food and build them a home with electricity and running water…I want to give them an education and disciple them in the ways of the Lord…I want them to know they are loved, I mean really, really loved–by God. And I want them to really be loved by their friends and family. But all I held in my hand was a cheap bottle of nail polish. And my heart cried.
I am not enough.
And He whispered to me, “But you hold the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven.”
And so I prayed. I prayed with every stroke of the mini brush. I prayed with the faith that every prayer I prayed would not only be answered, but answered quickly. I had no choice but to pray that way–I had nothing else to offer.
One little girl was dubbed “the mean girl.”
Beautiful one
She would provoke all the others by hitting them, messing up their freshly painted nails, stealing the nail polish, spilling it every where. And then she would cry…and cry and cry…when someone hit her back or she didn’t get what she wanted. I was told she’s always like this. She was out of control.
I didn’t have anything to offer her. My attempts to love her were rashly pushed away with cries and swats. She was difficult to communicate with and she had no intention of communicating with anyone anyway. I didn’t have weeks of relationship built up with her so she could trust me. I didn’t have a corner to put her in for a time out. I didn’t know if that would be the last time I ever saw her. And my heart flooded with tears.
I am simply not enough.
And so I prayed. I prayed as if this was the only time she would ever be prayed for–I prayed for her past to be healed, for her present to be rich, for her future to be set upon the straight and narrow. I prayed with deep unction and conviction. I prayed, believing every word uttered under my breath was answered the moment it hit the air. I didn’t have the option to pray any other way.
Then there was Jonathan.
His nickname is "Chiquito"
He was constantly held the whole time he was with us and never uttered a word. We had to take him home after the program, and I got to hold him on my lap. Adrienne told me his story as she drove and as I listened to his congested breaths slowly go in and out…in and out…He was so thin, and so sick. She said that his mom abandoned his family when he was a toddler and so his father is his only caretaker. Yet he doesn’t actually take care of him…because he works every day. The neighbor woman told Adrienne to watch him carefully–since no one watches over him, the other kids rough him up whenever they can. He is so hungry. He is not well. He doesn’t waste his energy on speaking or running or playing–no, he uses the small amount of strength he has to lift his arms up towards anyone who will notice him, asking to be held. His eyes, his heart…long to be embraced. And there, in that moment, I had a 5 minute car ride with Jonathan. I knew it was my only window. And my heart sobbed.
I am not even nearly enough.
And so I prayed as my heart cried. It’s impossible to describe the agony of the ache in my heart for this precious child. How can he have a chance in this world? You know he wasn’t rocked when he cried. You know he didn’t nap and sleep well as a baby. You know no one was there to greet him with the biggest smile and warmest embrace every time he woke up. You know no one reads him books every night. You know no one sings to him. You know no one has taught him how to count. You know no one (on earth) has been speaking truth over him ever since the day he was born. I held the tears back as I asked God for big things for His son. I prayed for healing to consume his physical body and his emotional mind and his sensitive heart. I prayed for his salvation. I prayed for provision of every type. I prayed for love to surround him. I prayed every short minute that I had with Jonathan…because I knew that was the best thing I could do for him…
It is times like these that I wonder if it would just be easier to look away; to not acknowledge and turn my face towards the massive suffering and injustice in this world. Because it is all-consuming and overwhelming to choose to invest my heart in the lives of those who suffer and have need.
That is, until I can fixate my mind on the Truth of the cross, and the truth of our Savior who goes out of His way to love the one. And that’s all. Why do I underestimate that I am one, loving one? Over and over my God speaks to the importance and impact of just one. Especially one of the little ones. He calls children “the greatest”… God thinks Jonathan, this one, is the greatest. And so when I remember his eyes, I must not just remember the loneliness, the abandonment, the sorrow, and the pain…no, I must remember that his angel sees the face of our Father in Heaven. He is not forgotten.
Because my God is enough…yes, HE is enough…He is enough for these children. There is too much need for my two hands. But He…yes–HE–is enough. He is always enough. And, just like the bible lesson I preached to those kids that day–HE in ME is greater than THE ONE in the world…HE in ME is enough.
I, with the power of Christ living in me, am enough...
…Because the one is enough. The one is the greatest.
He is one God, who sent one Son, who left with us one Spirit.
For one lost sheep.
For one sandwich for the woman who hasn’t eaten.
For one home built for the family who didn’t have one.
For one toy for the child who has nothing.
For one bible lesson for the girl who had never heard the Truth.
For one gospel presentation for the boy who didn’t know Jesus.
For one prayer lifted up in faith.
For one person choosing not to avert her eyes when she sees the brokenness.
For one believer who says, “Yes” to the call of God.
Elliott has a “Jesus Loves Me” book, which we read or sing to him almost every night. One day Brian was playing with Elliott and started singing the song. Elliott dropped his toys and immediately started looking for the book, and then found it! We decided to put it beneath another book and see if he could do it again. He did! So we pulled out the video camera and tried again, and sure enough…
We tried it again the next night, but made it a little trickier for him…we hid the book behind him beneath two other books…and here’s what happened:
He was exactly 8 months old in these videos. This is a testimony to how much babies actually DO know at a very young age!! Aren’t little ones amazing?! I have been inspired to a whole new degree to set high expectations for Elliott. Isn’t our God incredible in how he created little ones?! God wasn’t kidding when He said, “From the mouths of babes and infants He has ordained praise!”
Here’s a snap shot of our time in the Dominican Republic, serving with YWAM San Pedro!
Brian worked on lots of projects around the base. Here’s a picture I took through our window as he installed some security lights around the property of the base.
He makes it look so easy…
He also tagged along with a staff member interviewing various pastors and leaders around the community to get a feel for how YWAM San Pedro can best partner with each of the ministries and organizations. Brian then compiled all of that information so it was in an organized and easy-to-reference and sort database.
The staff has been visiting a Haitian Refugee Community, called El Tanque, for the last several months. They have been faithful to come, play games with the kids, paint fingernails, and sometimes even bring a little treat.
Playing "Duck, Duck, Goose"
A couple months back, the YWAM staff helped the men in El Tanque build these soccer goals. One week, we joined them for a game of soccer and I–yes, I–played too! And scored two goals!!
futbolOh yeahGOAL!
As much as they all enjoyed visiting the kids at El Tanque each week, they wanted to do something more organized and formal but weren’t sure how to get something like that started. So, I had the opportunity to help the staff implement a children’s program in El Tanque.
Here are some pictures of me teaching during the program that we got up and running in 3 weeks!
Teaching on how Jesus loves the little children
Johally was my faithful translator. Although I feel okay about general conversational Spanish, I wasn’t quite ready to invest the time it would have taken to really make sure I could communicate the bible lesson in Spanish. Soon though :).
I love this picture…with our little ones right behind us!
And here’s a video of me helping Adrienne, Rafaelito and Sthefany while they lead worship.
Well, there’s a quick snap shot of some of the ministry we were a part of while serving in San Pedro!
