Falling Into Place

Brody turned 10 months on Sunday. I have not taken his 9-month picture or his 10-month. However, my friend, Kim Deloach, a brilliant photographer, was taking pictures for promotion Sunday and sent me a couple of him.

This has been a busy season of life. Summer always is.

Brody's 9 -month visit with the pediatrician went well, but we did discover some motor skills milestones that he missed so BabyNet came out to do an evaluation of him. It was determined that he has a gross motor skills delay and needs physical therapy to catch him up. My service coordinator and I set some goals today and we'll have a PT evaluation in the next few weeks. We're hoping he will be rolling over well, sitting, crawling and pulling up to a stand soon. Oh boy am I in trouble when my little fella becomes mobile. I'm sure he'll eat some dog food before I can get to him. It's a rite of passage in the Fowler home.

We are also in the throws of school now. We started 5-year old kindergarten at home with Abby. Sydney sits in on most of it and they both love the cutting, use of glue sticks and the music. I love those things, too. Hopefully when we the curriculum gets harder we will all feel the same way about school.

We still don't have a new car but are just waiting. God has said, "No" thus far and we are trusting Him in it. He always takes care of us and as my friend reminded me, He cares more about timing than He does about the time something takes.

I am doing okay. Hitting the ground running. Trying to keep up with everything. Learning to trust God more than I desire to check things off my to-do list, which means that I am not defined by a to-do list, which means I have to be okay with some things not getting done. Whew.

Maybe I'll have some great news about a car, Brody's sitting or Abby and Sydney's spiritual growth. Even in the absence of great news to report, God is great. He just makes you want to love Him, doesn't He?

Brody's 8th Month

So I'm posting about Brody's 7th and 8th months of life the very last day he's 8 months old. I didn't include his 7th "monthly-picture-in-the-red-chair" because they were a bunch of bad action shots. He cannot sit up on his own and he won't be still long enough for me to snap a picture showing his size compared to the chair. :)Because today is my 8th month deadline I snapped some quick ones and got mostly action shots again but used the bumbo chair to keep him still this time (Thanks, Sara B).

He was trying to grab the camera at one point:)

Brody loves to "talk" - loudly. He says, "ma-ma-ma" and "da-da-da" but they do not seem to be associated with Mama or Daddy. He is cutting a generous number of teeth. He is currently working on tooth number 7. He bit Abby today when she hugged him because her arm looked like a perfectly good teething ring. She wasn't happy about it.

I am still totally smitten with my little fella. So grateful God blessed our family with him. I cannot imagine our little home without that sweet thing. Right now, he's sitting in the bumbo making loud noises banging his feet on the hardwood floor. I am so in trouble when he starts walking and crawling. He's just so busy.

No Red - Today

Just received an email from Gary:

IT SOLD FOR MORE THAN I WAS COMFORTABLE WITH FOR YOUR BUDGET.
I AM STILL SEARCHING ---WE WILL PREVAIL! -G

GOD will prevail, of that I'm sure!

Red River Pearl

Gary called yesterday and said he may be able to buy a red Honda Pilot from a Honda lease auction today. He wanted to know if we were interested in a red one.

Red is not my absolute favorite color and it's not Stephen's top choice, either, but he does really like the red and I'm starting to get excited about the possibility. Yesterday my yucky heart showed its face. I had to willfully submit to Stephen on this issue after an emotional afternoon but God's already changing my heart on the issue.

God's much less concerned about what color our car is and always interested in seeing our hearts change. If we do get this Red River Pearl Honda Pilot, the red on the outside of the car will make me think of a heart and will serve as a reminder that while man looks at outer appearances, God looks at the heart. Maybe everytime I see a red car it can remind me of that.

So we'll see what happens with this particular car. Who knows what God has for us! Whatever it is He will be glorified.

No Car Today

I got halfway to Columbia on Wednesday and got a phone call indicating that the dealership decided to show the car to one more customer and they would let us know if they could sell it to at the close of business on Wednesday. We did not get a phone call on Wednesday night but Thursday morning found out it was sold. The car dealer did not keep his word. He had verbally committed to sell us the car on Tuesday night.

When I got the phone call I immediately felt like I was supposed to spend some time praising Him. I put on the radio and the song "More Than Enough" was on. He IS more than enough!

I am learning a few lessons through this process.

I was reading in the Psalms yesterday morning in Columbia before I found out the news and these two verses jumped off the page:

Bless the LORD, O my soul,
And all that is within me, bless His holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
And forget none of His benefits;
Who pardons all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases;
Who redeems your life from the pit,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;
Who satisfies your years with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.
Psalm 103:1-5

Praise the LORD! Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting. Psalm 106:1

On the way home I turned on the radio again (my iPod was dead) and a few of the lyrics stuck with me:

Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance to be free
Bring me anything that brings You glory
And I know there'll be days When this life brings me pain
But if that's what it takes to praise You Jesus, bring the rain

Surrender don't come natural to me
I'd rather fight You for something I don't really want
Than to take what You give that I need
And I've beat my head against so many walls
I'm falling down, I'm falling on my knees
And this Salvation Army band is playing this hymn
And Your grace rings out so deep
It makes my resistance seem so thin
Oh, hold me Jesus, I'm shaking like a leaf
You have been King of my glory
Won't You be my Prince of Peace

So here's what a small part of what this circumstance is teaching me:

God's justice is much better than mine. Love does not take into account a wrong suffered - even when there was a wrong suffered! :)

God says "No" to a prayer request when that is how He is most glorified. I am most blessed when He is most glorified.

God will bring me good things and I cannot possibly know what is good for me but He does! He is always good. He is infinitely wise, tender and compassionate.

Now as I move past the disappointment I am moving into a place of waiting. He has given us a huge gift. We had been eating, breathing, thinking, speaking and talking car from Saturday to Thursday. Stephen said to me on the phone Wednesday night, "I cannot go through this again." The great thing is, we don't have to.

My mom's boyfriend, Larry, has a friend named Gary (yes, I know it rhymes) and he is a car dealer. He has promised to give us what we were previously offered for our X-Terra (and that was a generous offer). He has also agreed to find a 2006 Pilot and says it will likely have less miles and will be for less money. He said we just need to be patient and that it may take weeks, not months. He said to just keep my cell phone on!

So now, we find ourselves in a waiting pattern. I've been in this place more times than I can count as an adult and have never found it pleasant but am learning to be content in the wait. I have been given a gift. I do not have to search for a car. I do not have to worry that our car will not be worth as much as the SUV market gets even more soft. I do not have to even think about a car. I just have to wait on a phone call. That is a gift. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you.

I will struggle to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ and not think about the car but I know that He can be trusted and I know He wants to give us good things. What more could I ask for?

Too Good To Be True?

We may actually be buying a Honda Pilot in Columbia tomorrow. If the deal works out, this may be the car I come home in:

Stephen decided in the shower on Saturday that he was willing to sacrifice and trade in his favorite-car-ever so the family could have a car with more room and not have to get a cheap minivan when Brody gains two more pounds and outgrows his infant carrier.

We will all miss the old "Terra" tremendously. We brought two babies home from the hospital in that car, we drove her to Daytona Beach, Savannah, Beaufort, Charleston. Plus, it's our "Fisher Price" car - it handles my "woopsies" like a durable toy. This is the one of the pictures I sent to the salesperson in Columbia today. Our Terra's last day at home:

Gotta Gotta Gittle

Meet Sydney's puppy named Gotta Gotta Gittle (Gittle sounds like little):

Meet Sydney's other puppy, Mama Gotta Gotta Gittle:

And the happy family...

Just in case you're wanting to run out an get a Gotta Gotta Gittle for yourself, we got her several years ago in a McDonald's Happy Meal with Little People figures. But if you like big dogs, Mama Gotta Gotta Gittle is made by Fisher Price and is still for sale in most toy stores! (Thanks, Miss Marsha!)