Captivating

Earlier this month I had the wonderful opportunity to spend a few days in the mountains. Officially it was the Captivating women's retreat put on by Ransomed Heart, John and Stasi Elderidge's ministry. I went with some preconceived ideas of what would be in store for me. I'd heard enough of the experiences of others who have gone to this or the men's Wild at Heart Boot Camp to know that God usually shows up in big ways. I had this idea that if God was going to show up for me, I was probably going to need to be alone. Instead I was surprised at how He gave me moments where He spoke to me one on one and how He also spoke to me through the women around me. I know I'm safe in saying that the women who I shared a room with felt we'd been given a gift. I knew God wanted me to enter into relationship with these women. I felt Him pushing me towards them. I'm so glad I listened because the word that just sums up the whole experience is beautiful. I was so struck at how God makes things beautiful. My expectations were well exceeded and I think many layers of grime were peeled away from my heart.

I took a hike to this waterfall one afternoon during the break time.



On another break I took a drive up a dirt mountain road which dead ended at a ghost town. Along the way there were thousands of Aspen trees. I definitely want to go back next fall and see this when the Aspen are turning.



Five of us from our room. You are grouped with people who live near you geographically so we were all from Colorado. I've already gotten to spend some time with one of the ladies who lives here in Fort Collins, and I'm really looking forward to a reunion with everyone in the near future.

Sickness

We've had one really sick little boy around here. This was our first real experience of not giving antibiotics because his illness was viral, but boy it's hard to not feel like we want to just give him some anyway. I took him to a clinic and though we never really got a diagnosis my guess is that it's tonsillitis. He's just had a raging fever since Friday and tonsils that are HUGE with white spots on them. Poor kid is alternating between being totally miserable and then saying the cutest things while sounding like he has cotton balls shoved to the back of his throat. He's our cuddle-bug so he's been happy to just snuggle with me or Josh.

UPDATE: It became clear to me yesterday that we had travelled into the realm of a bacterial illness so I went ahead and got some antibiotics for Cason. It's slow but I'm seeing some improvement already. He's definitely back to being his active little self today.

Toothless Wonder

His tooth fell out a couple weeks ago, but it's still a good excuse for posting his cuteness.

A comeback attempt

Well I went and switched to the fancy iWeb program only to be frustrated with it most of the time. Then Facebook came along and started eating up all my creative energy (we all know FB is just a way to prove you are as cool as nobody ever thought you were) and the new Mac blog petered out. Then priority took over and we committed the .mac address to Josh's new website (www.southpawmasonry.com). So here I am back at the feet of blogger attempting to recreate what we once had. I make no commitments to this, I just miss having a place to jot this or that about my boys. Plus I think my non-FB parents will appreciate being able to see pictures again.

I've come all ready with a cute story. Yesterday Jonah and I were hanging out during rest time, just talking. He was asking me about all of my "favorites". He asked "what's your favorite flower?" Good, an easy one. I answer "Lilies." "What is your favorite flower, Jonah?" Without hesitation, my six year old boy replies, "hydrangeas." What, wow, really? Hydrangeas.