Photo Journal {October 2014}

October. Glorious October.

It was Anne of the famous Green Gables who stated, "I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers." And I heartily second this affirmation. If I could go back and choose my birthday, I would plant it smack-dab in October. On the 27th. (Because it's a number that's divisible by 3. Don't ask. I have problems.)

This October was a veritable whirlwind. Scott's lovely sister got married, we attended a Harvest conference in Chicago, and I managed to crash both a Blake reunion (my dad's side of the family), and a Spencer reunion (mom's side).

Of course, in the process of crashing all these events, I packed my camera.

And then conveniently left it in the bag, on a counter, at my in-laws for almost the entirety of the trip.

So, please suffer through these few phone photos if you so choose.

And I promise, for November, I actually whipped out my Nikon.

Someone loves "real" food. I made some teething cookies. So unbelievably slimy...

I decided to stay super-blonde. And super-short. I wish it always looked this good. Usually, I look like some washed-up Walmart person.

She's precious.

Soaking up as much sunshine as possible!

You may need a magnifying glass to see it, but Bets is sporting a lovely lil' ponytail!

Giving the bride a smooch!

Bets is cheesin'. Auntie is gorgeous. It's all good.

The Allison Fam!
{October 11th, 2014}

Cuddles with Oma.

Papa Blake knows all the fun horseplay.

We even got a brief play time with cousin Phoebe!

Whenever it rains, we must play in the puddles!

The glee of suburbia street puddles!

Oma and Papa had a pumpkin patch! How apropos for an October visit.

Someone loves Papa!

We went on a family bike ride! And I'm fairly confident that my father is never going to get on a tandem with me again.

At the Blake reunion with Uncle Greggors.

Soooo pretty... 

The reunion took place in the gym from the movie "Hoosiers." Here the Blakes are, recreating that formidable team. 

Senior pic. (I did not pose him. Promise.)

Harvest University group! First time away from my babies... 3 whole days. Amazing conference. Brutal being away from the little chickens. :)

Doing the jumpy-jump!

She's probably going to resent me... But it's just so much fun to put things on her head.

Oma with her two wigglies.

Bets tried the trampoline, too.

Not so sure...

Spring Mills State Park... Gigi with Tia and Baby Bets.

The Spencer clan! Celebrating Thanksgiving in October. This family is always early to everything.

Playing at the park with Uncle Greggors.

Hiking!

This boy LOVES the outdoors.

Hiking with Auntie!

Yes, that's my son. Barefoot. Pant-less. In a creek.

Real men wear babies. 

Sitting in the family highchair that babies have sat in since the early 1900s.

In the spirit of honesty, this is how most pictures with my children turn out...

Photo Journal {August-September 2014}

Um, did anyone else catch onto the fact that it's November?

Yeah, I kind of just realized this yesterday.

As I realized that the last time I had posted photos had been sometime in September. And those photos were for July.

**sigh**

So, here are August and September. All rolled into one. Please humor me as I furiously try to catch up before we run into Thanksgiving and Christmas.

We took Grant to a little petting zoo nearby. He was admittedly not initially thrilled with the idea.

But then he warmed up so decidedly, that we decided that we needed to take Grandma and Grandpa Allison here next time they came!

Grandpa (and Grandma!) visited in August. Grant fed the goats for the first time. He now looks for the goats every time we go to any park anywhere. Note to all park directors: add goats to increase your toddler boy foot traffic.

While Grant is fascinated by animals, you can see that Bets is less than enamored.

Grandparents and their progeny near the "moo cows."

Anything that rocks violently back and forth is Grant's favorite. My usually cautious son flings himself into this past time with reckless abandon.

Please. No more paparazzi.

Mama and son. Such a wonderful mother for such a wonderful man.

Permit me one attempted artsy shot of Independence Hall. We have visited it multiple times since moving here. So... if you want to come visit, I can pretty much recite the tour guide's spiel from memory.

Blue-eyed charmer

I just love my mama-in-love. This woman has taught me so much through her tireless, bountiful generosity.

My dear sweet honey-love. My forever-sweetheart.

My children have clearly not grasped the concept of, "Smile!"

Grandpa and his girlie. Wee Bets loves her Grandpa soooo much!

Then, in September, the Blake grandparents, Oma and Grandpa, came to visit! (Not forgetting Tia, of course!)

Staving off baby fussies with Grandpa!

Someone loves Oma.

Whoo! Can you scream when upside down, Bets? (Turns out, she can't.)

Daddy and his last baby.

I still cannot get over the fact that this is my back yard...

Tia and her "Granty" taking in the sights downtown.

Cute for 33 years and going strong.

Bets and I skipped the final tour and hung out on some very historic steps in the legislative building near Independence Hall.

Someone was thrilled that she didn't have to look at the original senate floor.

Some of our family favorites are picnics and play time at the park.

Super-Dad! Able to feed a Bets any where at any time.

Bets' first time in a swing was much more enthusiastic than her brother's first time.

Once again... happiness is found when rocking tempestuously.

It's a bird, it's a plane!

"Bets! Let's take a Mommy/daughter selfie while the boys play catch!"

"Okay, never mind. We'll play it cool."

We made a fluffy mess! (I have no idea what to call this stuff, but it was pure sensory heaven. Just shaving cream and cornstarch. Amazing.)

It kind of got everywhere... 

Messy heaven.

You wouldn't know it, but it's not supposed to be eaten and it must taste vile.

Happy autumn from the Allisons!

Uncover To Find Cover

So, I'm usually pretty honest with you, right?

(insert multiple head nods from my three readers)

In fact, back in April, I wrote this scary confession owning up to years of gluttony. I was counting years the other day, and realized that I've been in bondage to my taste buds for over 2 decades. (Yes, I am old enough to measure time in decades... also, my dear husband informed me last night that I looked like I was old enough to measure time this way. Thanks, honey.)

Well, there has been no update on the gluttony front for months, largely because I wasn't sure what I was learning. But I knew one thing. I finally realized that a sin which had dictated my behavior for 20+ years couldn't be eradicated by a week or two on SlimFast and a clever Bible word study on self-control.

So, I decided that I was going to slow down and simmer on this problem. Not move. Let it soak in. Really think about it.

Here's my tendency with sin: I vacillate wildly between shoving it under a rug and never recognizing it, or pulling it out, hosing it down with guilt, and then wallowing in shame and remorse. The problem with the denial rug? It fills up eventually. It can't hide everything. The wallowing shtick? I've tried it. It just leads to more wallowing and more shame. In fact, it can become just as much a habitual sin as the original sin which plopped you in the wallow pit.

In Psalm 32, David says, "I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,""

Three times. Acknowledge, did not cover, and confess.

In the CAV Bible translation (Courtney Allison Version) it would be written: "I see the sin, I stopped hiding it, and I'm laying it in gory detail at my Savior's feet."

And I did just that.

Rather than rerun the sin in my mind, become wrapped up in shame, or act horrified about what I had done, I acknowledged: "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23). I'm not sure why my own depravity continues to alarm and surprise me. It's not like God keeps me guessing about my true nature. The psalmist stated, "No one living is righteous before [God]." (Ps. 143:2)

I journaled. I read books. I buried myself in my Bible. And I looked at my sin in all it's slimy, vile darkness.

And that's when peace came, and the shame began to dissipate.

David acknowledges that silence about sin is deadly to both spiritual and physical health. "For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away... your hand was heavy upon me...." (Ps. 32:3,4) Both physical pain and emotional pressure are present when there is unacknowledged or minimized sin. I'm sure David knew he had sinned. Perhaps he just down-played it in his mind. Or denied it. I am capable of doing both simultaneously.

But then comes the verse I quotes earlier. Acknowledging sin. It brings the freedom that God promised in the very first verse of this psalm, "Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity..." (Ps. 32:1,2)

See? This psalm of contrition and confession begins with the hope of this outcome. God didn't make us wait to find out the benefits of repentance (which He would be totally justified in doing). He laid it out for us. My sin. Forgiven. Covered. No iniquity.

I can't cover my sin.

But Christ can.

I sweep it under a rug of denial. Christ dips it in His precious blood. It is covered in his sacrifice. It is forgiven. He will never count it against me again.

When I stopped denying, trying to rush past my sin, or being overwhelmed at its sheer enormity, my struggle became less about me, and more about my Savior. Nothing is too big, too scary, too horrible. And conquering even the most debilitating sin is feasible.

And from that place, God gave me clarity and purpose in my fight.

Repentance.

Sometimes it takes a while.

Don't rush it.



**************


I utilized several tools (aside from prayer and my wonderful Bible) in this endeavor. Journaling was amazing. Writing down all my thoughts helped them to crystallize and made identifying the lies I was believing very tangible. Also, I cannot recommend this book enough. Ed Welch does an amazing job with this book. Be warned: it's a treatise on shame. That means it is long. It gets into the nitty gritty. And it takes commitment.

I snagged it on Amazon during a freebie Kindle sale. It's not free at this moment, but keep your fingers crossed. The Kindle version is very reasonably priced: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F5KX7AU/ref=oh_aui_d_detailpage_o05_?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I know now that this free sale was an amazing gift. I did not realize the magnitude of my shame until I began unpacking it. Seriously. This book is incredible.