It's been a while

No, I haven't forgot about my blog, I've just been super busy. We recently returned from a trip to Waynesville, NC. Our intentions were to just go somewhere we could experience fall, but in fact we were experiencing the beginning of winter. It actually snowed while we were there. Very nice, but cold. There is too much to write about our trip so I'll just show you some pictures.

The view from the porch.

One of the highlights of the trip was being able to spend time with my good friend Allison who lives in Charlotte. It had been about 3 years since we've seen each other, but we just picked up where we left off. I think I've forgotten how much I miss my friends.

Part of Liam's photo shoot. He may not sleep through the night but he is darn cute.

Evidence that we saw Fall. Dylan is turning into a GREAT photographer.

My Buddy and Me bundled up for the cold.

O Ye of Little Faith

So the past two weeks I have been driving myself BONKERS trying to figure out why Liam was waking up so much in the middle of the night. I tried everything and sought help everywhere. I fed him more, I made sure he wasn't too cold, gave him Oragel, Hylands, tylenol, let him cry it out, read blogs, book... Literally just racked my brain. Then finally on Saturday night, we gave him his teething gel and Dylan and I decided we should just pray with him before bed. And guess what, it worked. He went back to sleeping 9 hours straight. Of course prayer was the last thing that I thought of. I'd been exhausting myself trying to figure it out instead of taking it to God.

The next night we prayed again. As Dylan left the room he told me he forgot to put his Hylands on his teeth so I should do it, but I was already feeding him and knew he wouldn't want to stop. I thought Oh no, he's definitely going to wake up in the middle of the night because we forgot the teething gel. And instantly was convicted. Even after seeing God answer our prayer the night before, I was still putting my faith in a little bottle of teething gel instead of the God of the universe. So I decided to not give him the teething gel. If God wanted him to sleep, he could sleep without it. And as I sat there I began thinking just even eight hours, that's all I ask. But once again, my thoughts were stopped dead in their tracks. Why was I asking God for the bare minimum? Instead of asking Him for a full 12 hours of sleep, I was settling for less. I didn't have the faith to ask God for what seemed the impossible.

So, after Liam fell asleep we asked God to allow him to sleep 12 hours. He didn't sleep 12 hours but he slept 10 1/2!! A new record. I kept waking up during the night, checking on him, but he was knocked out. And last night he slept 10 1/2 hours again. We are so thankful that God has been stretching our faith through our son. We are learning to not rely on stupid tubes of teething gel or bedtime rituals, but a God who is bigger than these things.

New Favorite Squash

So last week I made spaghetti squash for the first time. How fun. Why have I never had this before? I found a really great recipe in the Martha Stewart Living magazine but it's not on her website for some reason. So I'm going to attempt to type it all out.

Spaghetti Squash with Turkey Meatballs
1 hr; serves 4 (or two hungry people)

Ingredients:
1 spaghetti squash (about 3 pounds), halved lengthwise
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp EVOO
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves
1 1/2 tsp chopped fresh oregano
1/2 ounce grated parmesan cheese
1 tbsp dried breadcrumbs
8 oz lean ground turkey
8 oz mixed mushrooms
1 cup homemade or store-bought low-sodium chicken stock
4 oz baby spinach (about 5 cups)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Season cut sides of squash with 1/4 tsp salt. Bake, cut sides down, on a baking sheet until tender, about 45 mins. Let stand until cool enough to handle. Scrape flesh into strands using a fork. Let drain, covered to keep warm, in a colander set over a bowl.
2. Meanwhile, heat 1 tsp oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Cook onion and garlic, stirring, until soft but not brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Add oregano; cook until fragrant, about 30 secs. Divide mixture between 2 bowls.
3. Stir 1 tbsp plus 1 1/2 tsp cheese into 1 bowl of onion garlic mixture. Mix in breadcrumbs, turkey, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper using your hands. Form into 12 balls.
4. Heat 2 tsp oil in large skillet over medium heat. Brown meatballs, turning, 4 to 6 mins; transfer to a plate. Add remaining tsp oil to skillet. Cook mushrooms, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper, adding a few tablespoons of water if skillet browns too quickly, until soft and beginning to brown 6 to 8 mins. Add remaining bowl of onion-garlic mixture, meatballs, and stock; bring to gentle simmer. Cook partially covered, until meatballs are cooked through, 4 to 5 mins. Add spinach; cook until just wilted, about 1 min
5. Divide squash and meatball mixture into 4 servings. Sprinkle with remaining cheese

Remember the Sabbath

FYI: This is a horribly written post. My thoughts seem very scattered and disconnected. This is what happens when you're an internal processor and are writing off the cuff.

On Wednesday we had the privilege of hearing from Ken Cochrum during our connection time. We had heard him speak on the same topic a couple years ago, but it was great to hear him again. He spoke about the Sabbath and really about his journey/struggle with setting aside a day of rest. For people who are in full-time ministry ironically, it seems like you never have a Sabbath. There is always someone who needs you or work to be done, but you feel guilty to say no to people and things because its "ministry". And it's not really about saying no to things, but about intentionally setting aside time to be refreshed by God and maybe other people. Ken talked about how about 8 years ago he started observing the Sabbath by setting aside 24 hours of no work, just God and family. So from noon Saturday till noon Sunday he turned off his phone, didn't go on the computer, took of his watch and was just present with his family. When we first heard him talk about this, Dylan and I, realized we needed to set our Sunday's apart with stuff that was refreshing to us and not work. So we did start to say no to things on Sundays. If student's wanted to have a meeting, or a social on Sunday we just had to say no because we knew that it would make our work week seem endless. We were able to eat after church with friends, sometimes take a nap, watch a movie at home and feel rested when we entered the work week.

But now things are different. One mom asked Ken on Wednesday, "how does the Sabbath work for moms, when it seems like you are always working?" And this is where I am stumped. Not only how do moms have a Sabbath, but how do moms with infants have a Sabbath? Obviously both spouses can't have a Sabbath at the same time, so how do you find the balance? Right now, I don't know, but I'm pretty eager to figure it out and start making some healthy habits for our family.

"So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience." Hebrews 4:9-11