Seeking a hand or foot in the Body of Christ

I've been thinking -- if the Church is the Body of Christ and we are all called to serve different functions, would it not follow that there are different times in our lives when we need different parts? For example, perhaps we need a hand at one point in our lives and later the hand has served its purpose and now we need a foot?

I wonder why it is that we believe our individual churches have to function as all parts of the body. Or maybe it's just mainline established denominations and the people in them that tend to think this way? What if joining a church when one is baptized and remaining in it until death is just not the way it is supposed to work?

Sisters

Last night, Annalivia asked if she could "hold the baby." Turns out that the baby is almost too big for her to hold! So Emmeliese sat on Annalivia's lap. And they made-do just fine.

Buds

Emmeliese and my grandfather have a special connection. He was the second person, after Momma, she engaged in smiles. Last weekend we were at my parents' house and Gramps took the opportunity to take his little buddy to his truck to have a conversation. Emmeliese enjoyed it.

7 Quick Takes: The mostly-about-domestic-stuff edition

1. Only 1 week 'til we close on our new house! We're so excited to get to work on it, we can hardly stand it. We drive by the place three or four times a day. And we talk about it constantly. The wait is kind of excruciating, but good for us. We're doing lots of planning and dreaming. It's fun to allow our imaginations to run wild. We basically will have a blank slate at the new place. I think it's going to be a blast to figure out how to fix it up beautifully AND frugally. Endless entertainment!

2. The Habitat Restore is my new favorite place. Both cities near us have a location, which is amazing because there is such wonderful stuff at both places! I love just going in there and drooling over interior doors and crown molding! Last week, I got a $1500 cooktop for $100, a $2500 jacuzzi tub for my sister for $119 and a $350 sink for $25. This week I found a $185 chandelier for $25. I think we are going to furnish our entire house with recycled goods by using Habitat Restore and supplementing with Craigslist. Those two resources are pure gold for people with fixer-uppers.

3. Speaking of recycled goods -- I have been browsing through some antique stores lately and I am wondering why in the world anyone would ever go to one of those furniture places like Oaken Dreams, or whatever they are called, and spend several thousand dollars on fake wood when one could find a decent antique made of real, solid wood for a third of the cost. I wonder if people know that antiques are not that expensive, comparatively? Especially when one compares longevity of the piece in question. To each one's own, I guess...

4. While at those antique stores, I bought a really great quilt. It was inexpensive because it had big brown stains all over it. I brought it home and soaked it in hot water with TONS of Oxyclean. Now I have a beautiful antique quilt with white areas that are really, really white. It's so pretty and it's a relatively uncommon pattern called Arkansas Snowflake. I just wish it was big enough to use on our bed. I don't think my children will properly appreciate its rescue or beauty! :)

5. We are purging again before we move to the new house, whenever that is. We started with the kids' toys. We sorted out two huge containers of toys that are going to the local thrift store and/ or Goodwill. So far, they haven't missed any of the toys we've put aside. And I love how easy it is for the kiddos to clean up their rooms now. In fact, their rooms are some of the only clean spots in the house at this moment! :)

6. My mom and in-town sisters and I figured out menus for the next three weeks the other day.(We each cook one night of the first four days of the week and make enough for the other families and my Gramps.) Since we started sharing cooking duties, we are eating such a variety of foods we wouldn't normally eat, spending MUCH less time cooking, and I'm saving a lot of money! It's WONDERFUL!

7. Tomorrow I get to spend the afternoon completely by myself doing whatever I want to do. Dennis has to work in the morning and I'm going to take the kids to have breakfast with a couple of college sorority sisters and their children (3 adults and 8 kids -- we're crazy) and then I get to be BY MYSELF for a few hours! I'm so excited!

For more quick takes, see Jen's spot.

Two months

Emmeliese Elizabeth turned two months old on Mother's Day. She's getting so big now -- holding up her head a lot, staying awake more and smiling, smiling, smiling (but mainly at Momma only and NEVER when the camera is out). Time is going so fast! What a big girl!

Mothers' Day photos

What one doesn't think about teaching one's kids

Tonight after the whole family got home from being out and about, I stood in my neighbor's yard with Emmeliese, chatting. Annalivia and Daniel tromped up and down his sidewalks, which are apparently more march-inspiring than ours, and then Annalivia disappeared. In a few moments, Dennis disappeared, too, and a few moments after that, I heard Annalivia howling in frustration.

After my conversation with the neighbor, I came inside to find a sobbing Annalivia wearing only a t-shirt. I could tell by her face that she was mad. I asked her what was going on. "Daddy won't let me go pee-pee in the yard!" she yelled.

Turns out Dennis had found her with her dress hiked up, crouching behind some bushes in the side yard -- i.e. the "side-that-faces-Main-Street" yard. And while she had done a fine job concealing herself from the view of our house behind those little bushes, she hadn't considered whether any one else could see her, i.e. someone driving by on Main Street at dinner time when the road is at it's busiest.

It honestly never had occurred to me that I needed to have a conversation about when it is and is not appropriate to go pee outside. It has occurred to me now. The conversation has been had -- with this kid, anyway. I'll move it up a few years with Daniel.

7 Quick Takes

1. TomorrowToday, May 1, I turn 34.

2. I have a rather significant case of the flu right now. It's not very helpful to get sick when the talk-about-town is all about the "pandemic."

3. Annalivia has a preschool program on Saturday. I'm excited to see her perform her songs and do whatever they do. She's excited, too. I pray I feel ok.

4. My mom and two sisters and I are doing something new with meals -- we are each taking a day for four days at the beginning of the week and preparing meals for the rest of the families and my grandfather. It means we don't have to cook for four days, at least, and we have leftovers to eat for lunches/ on the weekends. It's awesome!

5. We made an offer on that house I mentioned long ago. It was accepted. We may have thrown a bit of a wrench in it today, though -- we had planned to pay cash and get a loan for the fix-up, but found out that taking out a mortgage vs. a construction loan saves us 3% in interest rates. Tomorrow Today I have to go sign for a mortgage loan (I sent Dennis on his own today) and pray that the sellers are ok with this switcheroo.

6. Tomorrow Today is also May Day. If I feel well enough, I'm planning to have my kids make paper cones for flowers to take to the neighbors. I'm fairly certain I won't feel well enough, so this might wait until next year.

7. I think my blogging desires are being partially satisfied by Facebook. Instant feedback like that on Facebook is a slightly addictive thing, I think, for those of us who process life verbally. I realized, though, that I really like having a record of our family life in more than just a few words or sentences, so I might try to get back to a more regular blogging schedule. But I might not, too.

For more quick takes, go here.