Well, hello October...

Did I ever show you a picture of flat-Nan? No? Oh, well, a while back, we were playing with play-doh and I asked Claire what we should make...her response - "Nan!" "You want to make Nan out of play-doh???" "Yeah!!" So we did.

Anyway, hello October! Where does the time go? We are semi-settled into our new apartment. We desperately miss our dear friends in NC and are anxious to join a church here soon so we can form new friendships with sisters and brothers in Christ. We have been able to make some friends here at our apartment complex, though. There are several other kiddos that live here and they have accepted Claire with ease, always running up to her and telling her hello, and allowing her to think that she knows what she is doing in their games of tag and hide & seek.

Please forgive me, I haven't broken out the camera since well before we moved. It just hasn't been at the forefront of my mind, what with packing, unpacking, and such. But I did get a couple of pictures with my phone this morning of Claire and her cousin Justice playing at the park...


Things do seem to be settling a bit, at least for Claire and myself. Though the upstairs is atrocious still, everything is pretty much unpacked and in place in the living room and kitchen, and that's where we spend most of our time anyway. Claire had, we'll call it "adjustment issues" earlier this week. Either that, or it could be simply that she's quickly approaching 2 years old and this was bound to happen anyway. But she has been a handful, that's for sure, and I realized that my focus really didn't need to be on unpacking and organizing while she was up and active. I thought that adding a little more structure to her day may help matters a bit, so for the last few days we have been doing a concentrated time of learning activities after lunch. We call it "school," and Claire loves it. We do a math activity and a reading activity, and by the time we are done, she is ready to play by herself for a while, freeing me up to do some things around the house.

All that said, I do see more and more of a sinful and rebellious heart in Claire, just the same as is in all of us. Structure helps me manage the temptation for Claire to become bored and unsettled, inevitably displaying more of that natural tendency toward trouble. BUT, structure is not the answer for the heart problem. Whenever Spencer or I discipline Claire, we always strive (though we don't always succeed) to explain to her that none of us can obey all the time. The reason we discipline her is to point her toward Jesus, who always obeyed the Father perfectly, and who through His death and resurrection offers to transfer that perfect obedience to us. Does she get it yet? I'm pretty sure not. But on the other hand, I know that she understands more than I always think she does, and I need the practice in explaining it anyway. Who knew that the "terrible two's" would be such a good theology teacher?

Side note: If anyone is looking for a great book to read concerning parenting, "Give Them Grace" by Elyse Fitzpatrick and Jessica Thompson describes a theology of parenting that is far from the moralistic stage that we naturally tend toward. It is all about convincing your kids of the sufficiency of Jesus - not teaching them that obedience makes them a "good boy" or "good girl", but showing them that we are all desperate sinners in desperate need of a wonderful Savior. That's what I want for Claire and for my Baby Girl. Not for them to be like the pharisees who thought they were righteous because they kept the rules...but to be the ones who love much because they are forgiven much.