Gabriel loves to cook dinner for us sometimes.
He was making “sammiches” this time. Pizza and cinnamon roll sammiches. 😀
He even asked us to sit at the table and partake of them together. And of course, he likes to bless the food.
Oh blue-eyed boy, how Mommy loves you!
One thing I spend a lot of time praying about is the discipling I do with my Gabriel. Discipline is obviously important and we spend a lot of time praying about that & implementing that also. But discipling is huge. And I don’t want to limit myself to modern evangelical, super-sappy, watered-down versions of teaching my son about Scripture, about God, about his salvation, about the body of Christ, about theology… This child doesn’t need to be fed watered-down milk. This child needs steak! Obviously not an entire steak thrown in front of him, because he doesn’t necessarily know how to properly wield a steak-knife and fork yet on his own. But I will feed him steak. I will help him cut it into pieces appropriately sized for his ingestion. I will instruct him on how to chew it, what swallowing it does, and how it nourishes our bodies. And of course we might occasionally wash it down with a glass of milk, especially if the steak gets a little too chewy or chunky in the throat. I have no problem with that. (I’m using Hebrews 5:12-14 & 1 Cor 3:2 as some inspiration for the metaphor, in case you didn’t pick up on that yet. 😉 )
But my endeavor, my goal, is to bring my son up on the hearty solid food of the Word. On steak and wine. Not on watered down milky psuedo-Scripture and psuedo-theology.
How that will look over time, I can not precisely tell you at this point. It’s a fluid concept. It will grow as he grows and as I grow (and as we grow as a family).
One way that I am striving to instill good theology into my toddler (who is not yet three years old) is by catechizing him. We are using this catechism right now, and Gabriel is quickly learning the answers; and I love having little discussions with him about it, as we chew and swallow and enjoy and are nourished. On a childlike level of real steak and wine. Little bites. Little sips. But truly nourishing, delicious, and delighting.
Last week Gabriel and I did a special art project one day, producing a piece of artwork for his bedroom as well as one for a gift for Grandpapa’s birthday. Here is a little glimpse into the fun that we had together and the beautiful results!
First we set up the kitchen, using an old shower curtain for a drop cloth. I had bought canvasses at Michael’s cheaply using 50% coupons, and a cheap set of 3 brushes (plus another tiny one we already had), and about 8 different colors of acrylic paints that were about 70 cents each; I used paper plates (styrofoam actually) for palettes, and washed them (and the brushes) between each color. Gabriel wore an old t-shirt of his daddy’s.
Gabriel painted in layers, one color at a time, and we used the hair dryer in between each one to dry them up.
We got to practice our colors, as well as listening to directions. 🙂
Gabriel signed the back of the canvasses.
I used an oil paint Sharpie to write Scriptures on them (and tried to be as artistic as my son had been!).
Psalm 147:1 & 3 on Grandpapa’s ~ we thought it was great for him as a doctor talking about brokenness & healing.
Exodus 15:2 on Gabriel’s ~ we thought this was perfect because Gabriel’s name means “the Lord is my strength” and the description of praising & exalting the God of his fathers perfectly suits our little boy.
Giving Grandpapa his birthday gift!
And we hung Gabriel’s on his bedroom wall above his bed.
At a special restaurant overlooking a river & waterfalls, enjoying a fantastic four course meal with my sweetest boys.
This is how Gabriel feels about going to a fancy restaurant with Daddy & Mommy! (or at least how he feels about his own special dish of ice cream…)
As Gabriel is growing up, so is his room.
This last week we said goodbye to the nursery (possibly forever, although I pray we’ll get an excuse for a nursery again one day). It was really hard for me, but our little boy loves his new room. He has always loved his room, and I am thankful that he continues to love it as it ages with him.
Here’s a little photo timeline of how his room has aged and changed.
It started with paint and a little furniture (Jan 2008).
Then after a while it needed more furniture, made by Grandpapa (May 2008).
In recent months, it has included changing the way some of the furniture is used (2010).
And now it includes a new coat of paint, the loss of an area rug, replacing furniture, and all kinds of new textiles (Feb 2011).
I am working on two more decorative pillows, and one more piece of artwork for the wall. But his “new room” is pretty much complete. It’s so bittersweet. I love his excitement over it, and I know that eventually I will get past the pain of it.
My boys, each serving in their kitchen.
True, masculine sacrifices for the woman they love ~ me. 🙂
Without having weather where we can play outside (Gabriel likes the snow well enough, but he is not fond of temperatures below about 10 degrees), we get creative inside. 🙂 Gabriel can’t decide whether it’s a fort, a tent, or an igloo… but he loves this thing, and makes us crawl through his tower to get inside (what a trick!), and we sit on beanbags in the fort to read, use laptops, play with toys, etc. Pretty clever.
My little boy helped me bake Christmas cookies this year. I’m thankful my Gabriel loves to shadow me & do absolutely everything I do. I made the mistake of not giving him an apron or overshirt while rolling & cutting the sugar cookies… haha. But we remedied the situation when it was time for icing & sprinkles. 🙂 Live & learn!
In the bleakness, this miracle-boy reminds me why I keep breathing.
