A lot of life has been happening in the Palmer household. Here's a quick glimpse...
NUMBER 1:
Cole and I had some pretty grandiose plans for what we were
going to do with our tax refund – which in our minds was going to be quite a
bit of dough coming in. But as I started preparing our taxes, it was looking
like the refund wouldn’t be anywhere near what we thought it would be. I was
bummed and a little frustrated at ourselves for getting our hopes up. The main
thing we were going to do with the refund was get another set of wheels for
Cole. We’ve been a one car family for almost a year now. It’s worked fine, and
actually has been quite the blessing at times. However, with the addition of Addy
as well as me being a stay-at-home mom, dealing with one car was getting
difficult. But now it looked like another set of wheels wasn’t going to happen.
February 5th, Superbowl Sunday, God blessed us
with a 1994 Honda Accord with 100K miles… UNBELIEVABLE! After getting the car,
Cole (in the Honda) and I (in the Buick) pulled into a nearby gas station and
just parked next to each other. Staring at each other through the open car windows,
shaking our heads in disbelief, mouths agape, tears rolling down our cheeks… no
words were necessary, nor would any be sufficient to express our gratitude to
our precious friends whom God blessed us through.
God’s great provision once again. I’m ashamed that I am very
much like the Israelites – whining and doubting, when God has provided over and
over AND OVER again for us in miraculous ways! Why do I ever doubt? This story is not about us getting a car, but about God’s
great love for His children, even those who are undeserving and doubting.
NUMBER 2:
Feb 7 – Addy rolled for the first time! And it was even
caught on camera! (Sorry for my squeals of excitement)
NUMBER 3:
My grandmother "Gokey" (from the first grandchild’s take on “grandma”) passed
away on February 3rd, after holding on for a long time. She
was 90 years old. Her and Poppa (who passed away in 2002) lived in another
house on the same 25 acre property as our family for the duration of my childhood.
What precious memories. I will always remember the short walk down the driveway
to Goke and Pop’s house. The big hugs, the warmth, the delicious dinners.
Helping them around the “farm.” The funny endearing words Goke would use (that
are either a different language, or that she simply made up…still not sure) like “ish-ka-varge.”
I’m so grateful that I grew up close to my grandparents, and that they were a
huge part of our lives, and not just “holiday grandparents.” That has caused me
to want my kids to grow up near their grandparents as well. What a wonderful
foundation.
On Thursday, February 9th, Cole, Addy, and I took
off at 4am for Salt Lake City, where Gokey was from, for the memorial. The
memorial was Friday afternoon. It was an open casket. I will never forget the
look of a body with no life in it. Simply a shell. Gokey was no longer there. So
that begs the question – where did she go? My dad wrote a beautiful eulogy, and
I took over reading when the emotions got too much for him. It was my honor to
support my dad through this.
It was wonderful to see a side of the family that I haven’t
seen in many years, and especially to introduce Cole and Addy to them. Addy
brings such joy, and I love that part of her character. Going along with that,
she started LAUGHING on this trip. God’s grace in His timing of her development.
I will try to get some videos of it soon, as it is just the most adorable thing
I’ve ever heard!
Addy has become very verbal in the last two weeks. Here's a typical conversation:
Also, her daddy loves to "fly" with her, and she thoroughly enjoys it... usually...
She sleeps a solid 8-9 hours every night... a dream come true for this momma!! She's always been a good sleeper, starting at 6 hours at 6 weeks. Here's hoping it keeps up!
So a couple new things - Addy has learned a new trick! She did it for the first time yesterday. She can now lift her legs and bottom, and tries to reach her toes. Check it out! It's adorable.
Secondly, yesterday we picked up the newest addition to our family. She's a 5 month old pit mix that we adopted from the shelter. Cole has named her Charlotte... just because he thinks it's funny to call her Charlotte the Harlot...
When we brought her home last night, Jujubee knew something was up. We've had lots of other dogs over before, but Jujubee somehow knew this wasn't just a visitor. She's feeling the need to dominate! But I'm sure they will be best friends in no time.
At Bible study last Tuesday, one of the mothers said her kids were asking about why God allows evil if he is all-powerful. I wanted to share Nancy's thoughts, as I think she simply and clearly addresses this common question.
I didn't get a chance to address your thoughts concerning your kids' questions about evil and why God made and allows it. They are really important questions to talk about because every thinking person will eventually ask them; and how you answer them forms the basis for believing if God is "good" or not.
If God created the capacity for evil and then deliberately did not prevent evil from harming us - it is easy to perceive that as "not good." So the question is, why is it SO important for us to have the right to choose - even if it means we might choose evil?
If you say to [your child], "Come and give me a kiss." You are giving her the opportunity to express her love to you by kissing you. If she says, "I don't really want to right now." She is expressing her ability to choose how and when to express her love to you. If you catch her and hold her really tight, and force her to give you a kiss, you have removed her ability to love you through giving you a kiss.
If Satan couldn't choose to serve and worship God; he would have been a slave and not an angel.
If we can't choose our own way, we also can't prove our love to God by choosing His way.
What we really want, is to be able to say that when it comes to my choices, God has to let me choose. But when sinful choices negatively affect people and even the earth, I want it to be God's fault! So we want to be the decider of when God should intervene and not let choice and consequence happen, and when he should not intervene and let choice and consequence happen.
We want to be the boss of God.
The other important thing to remember is that God consistently warns us that one day He will judge all evil. At that time, all evil that is not erased by Jesus' sacrifice, will be fully punished!
I also want to share something God was teaching me regarding His great mercy.
What God was teaching me was based primarily on Genesis 3:16, the woman's sentence after the fall of man.
"To the woman he said, 'I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.'"
What God opened my eyes to was how merciful He is, even when handing out these sentences. The woman shall have pain... but it will be in bearing children. Then the pain is forgotten immediately (John 16:21) and is replaced with unbelievable joy. In the same way, the second sentence for the woman is that she will be subject to her husband. How good is God that He does not make us subject to all men, or subject to a stranger... but subject only to our own husband who is then called to love us.
Just a reminder of God's great love and mercy.
Lasty, another reminder of God's great love and mercy - our precious Adeline, trying to roll :)
