goggles and God's glory

Today Noah was baptized. He wore his googles and went forward instead of backward. But his heart was right. He wanted to be obedient to Christ.

About a year and a half ago, Noah prayed and asked God to be his boss & to forgive his sin. He became at that moment a new creation - a child of God. He knew that it wasn't being baptized that would save him. He understood that baptism was obedience and taking a stand before everyone that Jesus Christ is his Lord. He knew. He understood. But he was terrified. We let it go and prayed for the Lord to speak to him and work in his heart.

So, when it was announced a few weeks ago that baptism would be this Sunday, we asked him - like always - if he was ready. I was surprised to hear "I'll think about it" instead of the adamant NO! that we usually heard. After discussing it with him, it was clear that he was ready. Hesitant and nervous, but ready.

"But," he said, "can I wear my goggles?" Noah has never put his entire head under the water (by his own choosing, at least) and must wear goggles in the water at all times, even though his eyes are always above it. That's just one of the quirky things that makes Noah....Noah.

(Here's the part where I am honest and let my faulty flesh shine through to all of blogworld.)

My immediate thought was "Of course not! Whatever would all those people think if you have goggles on?!?! Jesus did not wear goggles. You should not wear goggles. How will I ever keep my reputation as a godly, spiritual mother if my son is baptized in goggles???" Thankfully, I didn't voice my opinion but instead said "We'll have to see about that." Kyle was all on board with the goggle-wearing, citing that nowhere could you find a passage that says "goggles may not be worn during baptism." I emailed our pastor thinking surely he would agree with me.

His reply - this is a direct quote -
"Regarding Noah... he can wear scuba gear if he wants to :-). I have no problem with the goggles."

Not what I had expected. Thinking that maybe God was trying to teach me something (ya think???) I stopped at that moment and prayed. I admitted that I was worried about what others would think - that I felt the need to explain to everyone beforehand why my son had goggles on. I began to tell God how important it was that Noah not wear goggles.

I'm not sure what I was expecting. Maybe I thought God would change Kyle's mind and he would see my point of view. Instead, God changed my heart. He showed me that I was more worried about what people would think than I was about Noah's heart to follow after Him. He showed me that I was being legalistic. He took away my desire to explain the situation and gave me peace that He was leading Noah. I repented and asked God to show me Noah's heart.

And He did. Noah was more nervous than I have ever seen him. He was quirkier than usual the moments before baptism. I was afraid he wouldn't go through with it. But he did. Even though it was hard for him, even though he was terrified, he did it. To see his smile as he came out of the baptistry, to see the joy on his face afterwards, to watch him be obedient to his Savior despite the obstacles - I had to stop and give God glory.

Today, I was reminded of how many times I have not been obedient because it was too hard or I was too afraid. I pray that I can be as courageous as Noah. That the next time God asks me to follow Him I won't tell him I can't because I'm scared or it's too hard for me. Oh to be obedient despite the costs! That's my heart's desire. Thank you, my precious Noah, for teaching me something today.

Here's the video -(Lucas took it so if you're prone to motion sickness you may want to skip it. )
Click on the thumbnail to watch.


Noah's baptism 8/30

blast from the past

We have two computers in our home. One upstairs, one down. The upstairs computer is our old PC. The downstairs - Kyle's new(ish) Mac. Our PC monitor died several months ago so we've been soley a Mac family for a while now. Not a problem, except all our old pictures were on our PC as well as a math curriculum that Lucas needed for school this year. Which is why a few weeks ago we broke down and bought a new monitor for the old computer.

All that to say I have been going through pictures on this computer, deleting bad ones that we'll never use and narrowing down our selection. I love, love, love pictures and love, love, love looking through the kids baby pics and remembering that sweet time of life.

So I thought I'd share a few -

These all got out of order, but oh well. Here's a classic Ellie face that
hasn't seeemed to disappear with age. ;)

And here she is at 3 months - looking a bit more angelic :) - in Guatemala
while we were waiting to come home.

Jacob @ about 6 months.

Noah @ 9 months after bathtime.

Our two handsome boys (lucas & noah) ready for fall festival at church.

And the next year - our 3 sweet boys just hangin' out. Daddy worked nights
during these years - so Mommy and the boys had lots of time
on our hands.

Lucas's 1st birthday

One night we heard "Feliz Navidad" coming from the bathroom. When we went to investigate we found this. Lucas on his little potty with his undies on his head.

Preemie Noah coming home from the hospital.

My baby boy Jacob and his heart-melting dimples.

Burning things & the Old Testament?

So much for creative titles. :)

Today I actually remembered to grab the video camera to capture a couple of moments. Lucas was outside experimenting with the sun's energy. (i.e., burning things) While out there, the others showed off their remarkable singing ability with their books of the Old Testament song we've been learning.







It's a shame my kids are so camera shy. And please excuse my extreme southern accent on the word "Amos." You can take the girl out of Mississippi, but apparently you can't take the Mississippi out of the girl.

Yes, I'm aware that their singing ability isn't what most would call .... good. I'm also aware that 90% of what Ellie says is barely intelligible. We're working on that hand in hand with the school system who promises that "soon" she'll be evaluated. But that's another post for another day.

School started last week. I'm still working on the room - still need to make curtains and a cushion for the window seat, but I'm enjoying having a room dedicated to school. Even if it means sharing it with a piano! I took our coat closet in the foyer and turned it into my supply closet and have other supplies stored in the window seat. We also started a new routine this year - the kids get up at 7:30 with their own alarm clocks! They have to do their "morning b's" (Brush their teeth, Body - washed/dressed, make their Bed, eat Breakfast, and Bring down laundry). They do them in an order they wish, but have to be done and on the couch for Bible at 8:30. It's worked amazingly well!




































We also headed down to Georgia Tech one Saturday for The Great Yellow Jacket Encounter. It was way too hot & way too crowded, but the kids had a blast. We ate at the Varsity afterwards which is always a special treat.

Video diary

Seeing how it's my birthday and I'm so incredibly busy today (watching old shows on hulu.com is terribly exhausting) I'm just posting a few videos from our trip to Mississippi. I'll blog about it later, but we had a great time. My parents bought a slip-n-slide which brought hours of fun and belly rashes, we had a fabulous time seeing old friends, and got to relax and do nothing in rural south MS. Here ya go -



While swimming one day we took off Ellie's floaties and she just started swimming! Fearless.


And this is in the car on the way home - too many hours in a small space does strange things to my kids.

So it's officially summer at our casa. Actually, it's been summer for a couple of weeks now, but I think this is our first full week at home with no school.

Last week the kids and I went with K's mom (AKA Mimi) to their place in Myrtle Beach. Not sure if I've mentioned it before or not, but me and the beach + kids: not close friends. Something about applying sunscreen to 4 wiggly kids, making sure everyone has sunglasses, beach toys, hats, shoes, chairs, water, floaties, being lifeguard to those same 4 kids who think that they are invincible in the ocean, mentally counting 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3......"WHERE'S 4?" over and over, deciding we've had enough *fun* and loading everything back up in the wagon, pulling said wagon through the sand while the 4 kids run ahead of me, walking back to the house with sand rubbing a blister between my toes in my flip flops, having to rinse everyone down and give showers once back to get the 2 gallons of sand out of their hair and various other body crevices.....

Can you see why I'm longing for our July cruise to the Bahamas. A beach paradise with no kids to hear whine about the sun in their eyes? No sand to rinse off? No constant lookout for drowning victims? Paradise.

The pool was so much less stressful and I actually think the kids had almost as good of a time there. Lucas' swimming skills are much improved over last summer and with the other two boys wearing floaties I could relax a bit. Ellie spent her time in the kiddie pool where she impressed us with her un-fear (I'm sure that word's somewhere in the dictionary) of water and her self-taught swimming skills.

I took the boys to see Night at the Museum 2. I have to say that I was not looking foward to it, as most of the movies my kids want to see I don't normally enjoy. However, I was laughing out loud at several parts and had a great time.

I have no pictures to share as I didn't take a camera. (oops). But I did take our new flip video camera. And when I got home and downloaded all the video, I realized that Lucas had discovered the world of video. The 15 videos shot in the car were evidence of that.

The first one posted is his work. I don't think Steven Spielburg has much to worry about. :) (Disclaimer: If you have a tendency toward motion sickness, you may just want to close your eyes and listen. Don't say I didn't warn you.)




Yes, that was my sweet little princess saying "I'm gonna punch you."
And here she is with her mad swimming skillz. (I've always wanted to spell it that way)

Happy Birthday Jacob!

Today my baby boy is 6. Every year I sit back in amazement that the old cliche' "they grow up so fast" really is true.

May 19, 2003. The very day I was 37 weeks pregnant. I had been in the day before telling the doctor & nurses that I was in labor. But they, in all their "professional" knowledge told me I was wrong. 12 hours later I was back in labor & delivery and had dilated to 4 cm. I tried to tell 'em. :)

At 6:48 am this is the conversation that took place.

Dr. Freeman "I think he's about a 6 pounder"
Me: "Are you sure it's a boy?"

In all seriousness I had doubted the dr's assurance that I was having a boy. Surely ultrasounds can be wrong. Surely Dr. Freeman had gotten it wrong before. In fact, he got it wrong with a close friend of mine. So, I prepared for our 3rd boy, but deep in my heart was hoping for a girl. (more on that in a minute)

Jacob weighed in at a tiny 6lb 2oz. I remember thinking that he didn't look like the other two boys. I remember thinking that I could not name him Davis. I told Kyle this revelation while in recovery. We had already decided his name would be Davis. We had told family & friends - most importantly our then 2 1/2 year old - that this was baby Davis. But now, I just couldn't do it.

So, for the next few hours we "discussed" what we would name him. We, obviously, decided on Jacob. Jacob Aaron Brogdon.

And Jacob has been the hugest (is that a word) blessing to our family. We surely would have missed so much had he been a girl. God showed me, once again, how faithful He is and how much better he knows us than we know ourselves. I thought I wanted a girl. In reality, I just wanted another child. And life with my 3 boys for the next few years was delightful. Jacob was the BEST baby you could imagine. He has developed quite the temper in his preschool years, but he has also developed the greatest personality.

Our pastor once told us "the kite that pulls the hardest flies the highest." I believe God has BIG things in store for Jacob. My prayer for him is that he uses his passion to follow Christ with everything he is and that he will be a true worshipper of God.

I love you J. I am so honored that I get to be your Mommy and I can't wait to see the young man you are on the road to becoming.