Our little cupid...and some words that I hope will encourage.

Since the transition with Young Final Finish, Ethan has become one of David's most reliable floor guys.

The formidable three.
Haha.

Ethan is Molly's best friend. forever.

Michigan. Love these two brothers.

up in New Buffalo, Michigan

E with his cousin, Charlie!

You're getting so big, Ethan!

This was taken right after we moved back to Indy from N. Dakota

those baby blues...God gave them to E for a reason. He knew that this little boy was going to be very pesky. So He made him extra cute and delicious. Otherwise, we'd have handed him over to any band of traveling gypsies. for sure.

Already such a charmer at 5.

Ethan James Young will turn NINETEEN on Saturday. I can remember the day almost like it was yesterday.

I labored for two days with this guy. I thought for sure that he was a Melanie. When he emerged at 9:20 pm on Wednesday, February 14, 1996, I thought he looked an awful lot like Jeff Goldblum. Now, as you can see, he looks NOTHING like Mr. Goldblum but just like Ethan J. Young.

When he was five weeks old, we packed up and moved to the Great Northwest (North Dakota) until he was 5 months old.

He has been such a sweetheart. As a small boy, he was very precocious, stubborn, but tender hearted to beat the band. Nowadays, when he's home, I feel a bit safer...he's very safety-minded, helpful and cautious. In fact, next week, he's flying south to visit with some friends of ours for a week and his dad and I just don't know what we will do because E is the kind of guy that will literally drop whatever he's doing to help us out.

We will miss you, guy. Hope you know how much we love you and thank the Lord for the gift of being your parents. You will make some blessed girl a loving husband someday. And I hope that whatever little kids God blesses you with are as rambunctious and adorable as you.


On that note, I still have so many blog posts rolling around in my head. The one that is brewing now concerns investing in the spiritual aspect of our kids' lives.

So many parents (myself included, honestly) get their kid involved in this program, activity  or that

Make sure that they're in bed by a certain time, eat their fruits and veggies,  protect them from the sun or from chemical-laden food...make sure they get fresh air and activity...

don't watch too much television etc etc so on, so forth...

all the while, never investing in the spiritual aspects of their child's life...now if you are not a believer in Jesus Christ, this may not apply to you...(though I wish it did, but I'm a simple gal)....

If you claim to believe in the name of Jesus Christ and aren't actively investing in your children's spiritual life, that is not cool. This area of life is more important than physical activity, how well they know how to read or how good they are at a certain sport....though I'd never advocate that these are not good things....cuz they are...they just aren't the FIRST things...

I'm so thankful for David on this point...he is a disciplined guy. He always made sure we met as a family to pray, read Bible and memorize Scripture...Though our lives were busy, we tried to make time to gather as a family...Also, part of our kids' homeschool day included spending time in the Word and in prayer, for themselves. This is so important...

If it'd been up to me, it would've happened a lot less, since I am a little bit less disciplined than my guy. I'm willing to admit this. David is a wonderful leader for our family and watching him read his own Bible and spend time singing praises and praying at the couch is one of my life's most cherished photographs...What a picture for my kids to see! We've faced some pretty daunting situations throughout our 20+ years together...and the only way to really handle them is on our knees.

It's more than just a cheesy cliche'... He is our All in All. It's so rewarding and encouraging to see my older kids welcoming this into their own lives. I have learned so much from each of them and they encourage me in ways that I can't even put into words.

For reals.

To God be the glory....
Great things He hath done!!

so, let me encourage you, wherever you are....to give it a try. Jesus Christ will NOT let you down.

I can say that since I started cracking open my own Bible, journal, etc every day, it has opened my eyes. I am so grateful.

It causes you to see other's through Jesus' eyes....

and this, my friend, is today's blog post.

So thankful for my nearly 19 year old son and the time that God has given me to be with my beautiful gaggle of children.

Hugs!