Kids Under Construction

Most of you probably know that we have been in the process of selling our old home, and are now building a new home. And, they started on our new house last week!! We could not be more excited!! To make a long story short, we decided to sell our old home before we did anything on the new house. So, this has definitely felt like a long time coming! It's so fun to be able to drive out to the lot and see the progress that they make on it each day. I've posted pictures below from when we were out there the other night....

I love this one where you can see Jay's little face peeking over the wall in the background.

Me and the boys

Jay had a wonderful time 'playing' along this wall

A kiss from big brother

As I look at these pictures, I can't help but think how reflective these are of the exact stage of life that we are in right now. We have our two little boys who seem so young and have so much of life ahead of them (just like there is hardly any of the house done yet, and seems like there is still so much to go)! Yet, as I am reminded of how crucial and important the foundation of a literal house is...it is a good reminder to me of what important years these are to our little ones. So many times, I think it is easy to think of these early years as just diaper changing, eating, sleeping, and chasing them around the house. It is easy to think that the 'training' all comes later in life when they are older, can understand more, etc... Last year in BSF (Bible Study Fellowship), we studied the life of Moses and I LOVED studying about Moses' Mom, Jochebed. (You can read the whole story in Exodus 2.) It was so neat to see how she only had Moses in her home until he was weaned (from what I understand, they probably weaned about 3 years of age back then. Yikes!! But anyways....) Yet, he was taught the ways of God and valuable truths that not only stayed with him for a life time, but also set him up to lead God's chosen people all the way to the Promised Land. What an amazing Mom she must have been....and how seriously she must have taken her job to teach him everything she could about her beloved God before he was given over to live in Pharoah's home. Obviously, she realized that her son would most likely be taught things completely opposite to the faith which she held so dear. Hmm...how familiar this sounds...my kiddos will be growing up in a world where they will witness truths completely opposite of the Godly truths that our family holds so dear. Oh, how I pray that I am faithful in impressing on their hearts the ways of God at these very early ages. Such a good reminder to capture their hearts while they are young... have them fold their little hands in prayer at mealtime; read Bible stories at night (no matter how short they have to be); play and sing Christian music; teach them to pray when they are scared, happy, thankful, or even in trouble; talk about God's simple truths like sharing, obeying, making God happy....it sometimes feels like such a huge responsibility. I feel blessed that God would even consider Trey and I to tackle the job...I just pray He'll give us the wisdom and grace to parent these blessings!!

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.
Impress them on your children.
Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. "
Deuteronomy 6:5-9