La Famille Armstrong

Sunday's sermon was really excellent. That, along with one of the worship songs, got us really thinking about how much we believe what Jesus says. The song is called "In Christ Alone" and sounds very hymn-like even though it's relatively new... the last verse says this:


No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath.
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.



Both of us really feel like we "trust" God for most things but to really be so confident in what His plans are for us... we definitely feel like there is a lot of ground to be made up!! In the sermon, Steve was talking about when King Herod killed all the male children, age 2 and under, and how Matthew says it was a fulfillment of prophesy. I'm sure most mothers did not see it as God's plan being accomplished at the time, as I'm sure many families were devastated by Herod's jealousy. It was a terrible tragedy, and I would like to say that tragedies on that scale do not occur today because they do, just not publicly. But it really got Mark and I to start considering the way we look at circumstances in our lives. Instead of looking for fixes, do we look to God for guidance and assurance? Or do we look for human solutions and personal happiness? I know I'm usually the latter. 


I also started thinking about why I don't give God as much credit as He deserves and was just trying to think about Him and who He is. Steve was talking about Jesus being the new ruler, so I started to think about what it looks like for us to serve a King. I can imagine, that if I knew Queen Elizabeth and she offered to take care of all my needs for all of time if I just made myself about her goals and did whatever she asked that it would be a pretty nice gig, yeah? Well, maybe not awesome, seeing that she is human and may have selfish goals and not completely desire the best for me... but God is far beyond that. He not only has power over earthly circumstances in one small country, but He has power above all creation over all time!!! Seriously, we really have such a limited idea of how much that is... well, maybe we don't and that is why we don't trust Him. We think "Yeah, He can do anything, but really, is He going to do much for me?" I know that I too, seriously misunderstand the completeness of God's goodness and love towards us. 


Take this verse: "If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him?" Matthew 7:11 If I, being selfish and caring mostly for myself, know how to being loving and caring and want good for my kids, how much more does God, who is completely perfect, brilliant and good, want to show us goodness when we ask!!! In America, many people have loftly dreams but we tell people to always keep their feet on the ground, attempt something more attainable... but God can do the impossible, and if we aim for God's will we should attempt the impossible so that it is only possible with God. 


All of this to say, I truly desire to be about God's business and should not question the circumstances of my life as long as I am pursuing God, for He knows better than I do and He loves me more than I could ever comprehend. I really want to believe that and there's no way without Him that I can!

Grandpa Boatright intruduced Asher to this little number. Apparently
it's funny when mom does it too!

Asher did an amazing thing last week... yep... gave up his binky! It was really odd actually. One morning after his bath he was being very cranky. I went and found his binky and tried to hand it to him. He simply kept saying "done, done" and refused to even hold  it. He took it with him to naptime but wouldn't put it in his mouth. Well, actually, that day he never really napped... he just played in his room for half hour-45 minute increments, came out of his room, got in trouble, then back to goofing off again. That night, he still  wouldn't take his binky. Even while crying at night he just kept saying "done" whenever I tried to give it to him. We figured we'd take the opportunity to hide all the binkies!

A friend suggested he might have had an ear infection and that it hurt to suck. I don't know what exactly happened, but he's on the upside of his cough now and goes to sleep without the binky! He asked for it once today so I just told him "You said you were done so all the binkies went bye-bye." and he seemed content with that answer :) So yay!!! I'm so glad it wasn't a super drawn out battle or source of contention. Cole doesn't seem to be near as attached to his so I'm hoping we can raise 2 kids without power struggles over binkies at least!

On another note, I had my last Dr's appt for a while to just check a couple things out with my recovery. I've had a really sharp pain on the right side of my incision on the inside. It feels like a strained muscle does and it gets worse when I do a lot of lifting or working out. My Dr felt the incision and said it was the material they use to close up everything. I guess it's a really strong suture on the right that is in more of a knot that the rest and it takes about 3 months for it to dissolve. Where the knot is can dissolve more slowly and that's probably what's causing the pain. He said I should be painless within a month or so and to just take it easy until it doesn't hurt anymore. I wasn't really worried, just annoyed that I can't work harder to get into shape again. But that's what this summer will be for... hopefully lots of jogging to the park with the kids and swimming in grandma's pool!!

Lastly, Cole is starting to chuckle a bit! Kristi was watching the kids while I was at the Dr's today, and she said her and her daughter really got Cole laughing! I was sad to miss it but am really excited to hear it soon. He's so cheerful (as long as he's not tired or hungry) and so content most of the time. We get lots of smiles and he's becoming slightly more predictable... my kids are polar opposites! But so far, Asher and Cole seem to really love each other... as much as babies can. Cole just watches Asher run around and Asher loves to help me get Cole up after naps. Asher will go running to Cole whenever he cries and will even put his binky in when he's tired. It's so cute to see Asher take toys to Cole and just say his name, even if it is way too close to his face :) I'm glad to have these boys and really look forward to the fun times ahead.