Beginnings

A stroke of a key, the sound of a dial and a joy-filled message from Mom greeted me. The course of my day was altered by the simple words that popped up in my Google messenger.

“Easter was just not the same without you guys. However, Ray and Janice, and Drew and Tina accepted the Lord today. Also, Janice is three months pregnant.”

Tears flowed down my face from a heart overflowing with the indescribable exaltation of sharing in the news of old lives surrendered to the freshness of forgiveness and the promise of a new life breathed into the womb of a woman.

My Father, you amaze me with your gifts!

Ray and Janice Garcia (our former next-door neighbors in Florida)

Ray cuddling Weston before we left Florida

Spider Surprise

I was going down the stairs towards our back door when a giant spider stopped me in my tracks. Thank goodness for a zoom lens on the camera. Sorry I couldn't put my hand next to it to give you a size reference. My hands were full... holding the camera... really.

YIKES!

Weston's Funny Faces

Weston loves to mimic his siblings in most things they do. Lately, he began responding to their silly faces with some of his own. He keeps us in stitches!

Gruncle, would you say he’s on his way to making a good Commander face?

Just in case you fear that his face is now forever stuck in the above position, we've included a picture of his sweet normal happy face.

Hiding in a cabinet

Speaking of the love of a mom…

Well, I have now done something I never thought I would do. As many of you know, all our kids love animals. Lucas is an animal fanatic. He already says he wants to be a vet when he grows up and take care of baby animals. He’s always finding little insects and animals to keep so we have had a few frogs, snails, lizards, preying mantises, geckos, beetles, mice and snakes. Some we have kept for just a day and some for a little longer.

Last week our workers found some newborn field mice/rats(?) and Lucas came running in the house with one small rodent in his hands begging to (raise your voice an octave as you read the rest of this sentence) “keep him because he’s sooooo cute!” The critter was real cute, and he was so tiny that his eyes weren’t even open. But he still had a very rat-ish look about him, and I wasn't at all interested in the idea of keeping a RAT as a pet!

Well, 3 kids’ soulful pleadings later, and a chime in from Dad, “Honey, they do sell rats in pet stores”, I found myself wondering how we were going to keep this critter (now named Ratty) alive. I poured a little reconstituted powdered milk onto a tray, and though it seemed like he went for it once, he definitely wasn’t drinking it for subsequent feedings. I tried convincing everyone that this rat would be better off with his mom. The kids told me that he would never find his mom again because he couldn’t see. Then, I had an “a-ha” moment -- and here is where the “Mommy love” part comes in. I found a dropper and hand-fed Ratty some pumped milk we had on hand (let’s just say Weston isn’t weaned yet)!Ratty was so ecstatic he started squeaking. It really was adorable—I know most of you are thinking that I am really losing it now, but with 4 animal lovers looking to me to keep him alive I had no choice.

Lucas loved this tiny little rodent and would carry it around with him, tucking it in his shirt, holding it in his lap, and even reading books with it.

We were able to keep Ratty-renamed Mousie- and feed him for four days before he met his sad demise. Apparently, he was so young that he needed mommy's moo-juice more often than we were able to deliver. Tears were shed by both Austin and Lucas. While I’m very glad that the rat is gone, I would have done anything to prevent those heart-broken tears.

(Sigh) Until the next animal adventure!

Love...A Modern Mom Version

Yesterday the kids asked me if I wanted to be famous. I told them “Never”. Of course, the “why not?” came next and I explained that I like my privacy. Austin then said I could go and work in Hollywood “acting or singing” for a few months and then come live in Alotau where no one would find me because “we only have 1 TV reporter here and he’s only here when it’s time for the Canoe festival.” I did tell them that while I don’t want to be famous, I do want to be remembered after I die as a woman who loved the Lord, loved her husband and loved her kids. I won’t often fill this space with someone else’s words but I came across this 1 Corinthians 13 paraphrase later in the evening and found it very poignant…and challenging.

If I spend my days building skyscrapers with blocks, assembling cool stuff out of LEGOs and creating relationships with other moms at Starbucks, but have not love, I am only the siren of the kids’ ride-on fire truck, annoyingly stuck on hold.
If I have the gift of knowing which child attempted to flush the Hot Wheels down the toilet and which one pushed her sister, and if I have faith that somehow we’ll survive life’s emergencies, but have not love, I am nothing.
If I save all my box tops for school and give outgrown clothing to the local shelter, and if I surrender my body to stretch marks and under-eye circles (without the benefit of BOTOX, tanning salons or diet bars)’ but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient when someone isn’t ready to use the big girl potty. It is kind when my husband has a hard day. It doesn’t envy my neighbor who drives the new sport utility vehicle I can’t afford.
It is not rude, snapping at my spouse or children when things don’t go my way. It is not easily angered at perceived or real injustices.
It always protects the smallest, sweetest family confidences; always trusts God to provide my children’s needs; always hope in the freshness of tomorrow and the bright future of family; always perseveres amid hardship and doubt.
Where there are sleepness nights, they shall end. Where there are diapers, Little League and dioramas built from shoeboxes, they will cease. Where there is knowledge of baby-care trends, discipline strategies and boy-girl problems, it will pass away.
Now these three remain: faith, lived out in my daily circumstances and instilled in my children; hope, of one day rejoicing with my family in heaven; and love, which covers over a multitude of less-than-perfect moments.
But the greatest of these is love. It is what remains…long after I am gone.

Cindy Sigler Dagnan