For the three people left on the planet that Robert hasn't told...the Humphreys are expecting baby #3 in late June. In honor of this exciting news here is my Advent Devotional for FUMC's publication :



Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart..”
Luke 2:19

This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. I realize that may seem like an odd choice. It is probably not up there with John 3:16 or Phillipians 4:13 in the Christian Top Tens. I don’t recall ever memorizing it for a Bible drill. But, I love it. I love it because every mother in the world has done exactly this, thrilled at the first kick,counted fingers and toes, marveled at the miracle of new life. Luke, the physician, got this one just right. Even without heavenly hosts singing, exotic visitors from the Far East, and shephards showing up unexpectedly the birth of a baby brings much to treasure and ponder. I remember the first time I felt my unborn babies move, and the moment I heard their first cry.
I also love the expectation and promise this verse brings us. Advent is a time for treasuring and pondering the mystery of a coming Christ. God delivered joy, peace and light to all humanity through a teenage Mother in a stable. God is with us indeed. My goal for this Advent season is to treasure and ponder every moment I see Emmanuel in my family, in my church and in my community.

Dear God,
Thank you for the miracle of new life, and new life in Christ. Help us to treasure up and ponder all the moments that point us to the coming Christ in this season.

My Week in Photos

Halloween Howl 2010

A brief moment of glory

How the rest of the night went

Robert giving the Hooligan war cry which is an awful like his everyday war cry

Communion in Prattvillage Gardens for Hannah's Prayer Memorial Service

Hannah's Prayer

Hannah's Prayer is the support group I have been involved with for the past year or so. After Hunter and I lost our angels I longed for a place to be honest about my struggles and to join with other women who were facing the same thing. Finally, earlier this year I had a chance to begin and lead a group at my church. (Many, many thanks to Olivia, my friend and pastor who has helped in every way possible and co-leads the group.)

This week is the first Service of Hope and Remembrance. It will be held in the garden behind my office (see above) and I am so excited. Although I always held those little lives in my heart Hunter and I never had a way to mark their passing from this life....so now we do. The service is Oct. 24th at 3:30...say a little prayer, send up a good thought for me and all the other mommies who don't have all of our children with us here but who remember them always.

I'll be sure to post afterwards and let you know how it goes.

Running

Brace yourself friends and family, I started running. I never thought I would run for anything but my life. But its not so bad..I'm using the Couch2 5K program meaning I run for 90 sec then walk then run and so on. By the end of 9 weeks I should be able to run for 20 minutes. My goal is to run a 5K by my birthday (Dec. 4). We'll see how it goes. No runner's high for me yet.



Ethan is changing everyday, right now he is obsessed with "Mickey House" as he calls him. He repeats absolutely everything you say (watching our language a bit more these days). We haven't taken away the paci, but any day now I plan to do so. He loves it more than Robert did. Oh and he recognizes his letters, all of them...what 2 year old can do that?



Robert, that boy is gonna drive me to drink...This morning he started out the door to school with one of his sneakers falling off due to no laces. He had no idea where the laces were, how does that happen? He read a book with "500 facts" and "500 Questions and Answers" so we get a few of those each day. For example did you know that one U.S. president could write with both his right and left hand in two different languages simultaneously? Robert can't remember which president it was.



Both of my boys are so smart and kind and just make me smile every day. I feel beyond fortunate that I have spent so much time with them. My work makes me crazy sometimes and every now and then I consider going back to work for someone else...but being with them is so worth it. This week, I walked from my office to Robert's field trip and then back to work. Today Ethan and I walked all over downtown and then afterwards while he napped I saw a client. How much better could my work situation be?

Elmo here we come

My goodness I am behind on blogging. Robert started back to school with not even one photo to prove it. Ethan turned two, also no photos. (plenty taken just not blogged). Ray came to Ethan's party and so did two camo clad machete wielding men looking for a tree stand....don't know what else to say about that except that living in the country has its drawbacks.



I've been reading like crazy. I discovered the Kindle app on my iphone so I have been going crazy buying books. Here's my recent reading list:



Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller (not on phone) he is soooo good!

Water for Elephants

Daily Bread (I'm digging Henri Nouwen)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

The Last Lie (crime novel by a psychologist)

Fragile (crime novel about a pyschologist)

The Slave Across the Street - a true story of a girl caught in human trafficking. I'm totally into this Modern Day Abolitionist movement by the way....

Your Whole Life Plan

The Me I Want to Be

No wonder I haven't blogged...




I'm knitting a hat for Mae Garner...sweet baby girl of my friend Kim. Work is perking along. It's been a busy but couple of months. Next post will be all photos to verify how busy we've been.

When you are a social worker, people tell you things. Obviously your clients tell you all sorts of things, also friends and family know you are a good listener and unburden themselves. But also, and this is the weird part, total and complete strangers...I could be in line at a grocery store and the person in front of me will start telling me their life story and asking for advice. In fact I think that exact scenario has happened more than once to me. Social workers give off this "I'm a friendly caring person who is willing to listen" vibe even when we are PMSing and have a screaming child in the shopping cart. Its just how we are wired.
But I also think this phenomenon has as much or more to do with the fact that people really just want someone to listen to them. Think about it-when is the last time you were able to talk to someone without them interrupting, telling you their own stuff or generally flaking out. I feel very fortunate to have a few people in my life who will do that, more than one is like an embarrassment of riches.
Henri Nouwen said "The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in bereavement and grief who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face us with the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares." I hope you have someone who listens to you today. Even if its the social worker in line behind you at Publix. And I hope you have the chance to listen to someone you love today.