Wonderous Insight

During each gathering in my women's Bible study, we each share what wonderous thing we have learned from our study. It's interesting to see how God has spoken to our hearts during each of our individual studies.

You may have noticed I have been reading David: 90 Days to a Heart Like His. I am 80 days into the 90 days of study, and one of the earliest days of study is still one of my favorite.

In 1 Samuel 1:19-28, Hannah conceived and gave birth to Samuel. Hannah had been childless, and had prayed for a child with the promise that she would give the child back to the Lord. When Samuel was weaned (~3) she took him and presented him to the Lord. Verse 28 tells us "He worshipped the Lord."

We learn that the Herbrew word for worship used here is "shachah." Bible commentaries tell us this word isn't used in the general sense of worship, but specifically to bow down, to prostrate oneself as an act of respect before a superior being." In other words, little 3 year old Samuel bent down and bowed before the God of all creation.

Wow! Samuel learned his faith from his mother, Hannah. As a mother, I want to have faith like Hannah to share as she does in 1 Samuel 2:2 "There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no rock like our God."

And we know the rest of the story: Samuel becomes the divinely ordained leader of Israel and later anoints God's chosen leader for his people. Wow! What a blessing to Hannah for her faithfulness.

Mug shot

My photo to travel the world.

New shoes? Already?

Seven weeks ago we went shoe shopping and got Colin his first pair of real tennis shoes. $30 later after a trip to the outlet, and we had a pair of nice extra wide shoes. Needless to say, with the need for extra wide, this now rules out shoe shopping at places like Target.

Today we go in for some brown shoes for fall, and we measure just to check. New shoe size, please. He's a half size bigger (and almost pushing a whole size) in just 7 weeks. Man, I need to take stock in Stride Rite. Will I be buying new shoes every 7 weeks for the next year? All that ravioli I mentioned in my last posting is going right into his feet! The sales clerk gave me the advice to scotch guard the shoes for longer wear. I laughed to myself thinking, "We'll outgrow them before he could POSSIBLY wear them out!"

Not Movin' Fast Enough

Quick funny story from this evening...I was milling around in the kitchen picking things up off the counter so I could get dinner ready for Colin. I guess I wasn't moving fast enough, as he grabbed an avocado off the counter and tried biting through the outer skin. I put the not-yet-ripe avocado back and finished at the sink to turn around and find that he had grabbed a huge peach off the counter and was sitting on the floor of the kitchen just chowing down...he was hungry and figured it was "fend for yourself night" at the Sturms.

He must be on a growth spurt. He ate 2 pieces of pizza at dinner on Sunday -- as much as I did -- and tonight he ate a huge portion of ravioli, along with some veggies, and of course, the peach!

Sunday: Play Day with Dad

We went for an afternoon hike on an urban trail. It's one of our favorites for a good, quick workout (beautiful, too, with all of the surrounding forest.)

Colin then enjoyed a visit to feed the ducks at the pond at the downtown park, followed by some playtime at the playground. He loves anything that bounces!

Past Week In Review

Kathy's Shower at Azteca

Here's a recap from this past week:

Colin continued to enjoy his visit with Grandma Walker -- it was great to have her here during her break between classes. School starts back this week, so "Happy first day of class, Grandma!" During her visit, we enjoyed outings to parks, The Seattle Aquarium (Otters are SO fun to watch), and several yummy dinners (Colin liked sharing Grandma's Chicken Phad Thai from Thai Ginger)

At the end of last week, we went and visited Dad at work in downtown Seattle. A visit from a cute youngster always guarantees a drop in productivity throughout the office. Since I (mom) worked there as well, there are many people to visit around the office. We then joined the mounds of tourists at Pike Place Market and got the most gorgeous flower bouquet for $15!

Then on Friday night I threw a shower for a friend, Kathy, who is expecting her 2nd. Second baby showers are fun -- it's kind of like a girls' night out dinner. We ate at Azteca, rather than sitting around and playing little "baby bootie" games. Great conversation and lots of fun! This will be my first of MANY baby showers this fall. Did I mention I'm about the only one in my group of friends that isn't expecting? Whew!

C-C-C-Cold

OK -- So I know I'm a wimp, but this has sure been a cool summer! I was lamenting yesterday that I need a good, warm summer to thaw my bones in preparation for the long cold days of winter. The trees are "confused," as well -- many are showing beautiful colors of fall. Fall? I barely got to wear my shorts! And when it's at least 60 outside, it's a shorts day for Colin. In Houston you'd be bundling your tyke in a sweatshirt and jeans.

Living in Texas, August guaranteed you heat and humidity so intense that you needed a shower after a quick walk from the house to the car! Dad tells me that Houston has been unseasonably mild, as well, though.

On a related note, our munchkin was wide awake and talking at 3 am. Still talking at 4 am. So I went into his room and it was 63 degrees! I wrapped him back in a few blankets -- poor kiddo was cold!

Remind me of this posting next August when we have 3 straight weeks of 90 degree weather and we can't get the house cooled down : )