So Joanna is napping and hubby is out to work. It's been a while since I posted on here.
The weather is certainly getting more bright and sunny.
Great is thy faithfulness... your mercies are new everyday.
What I have been reading
I just finished my first book reading of this year (it seems)... Treasuring Christ when your hands are full by Gloria Furman. I received it from a child dedication class. Out of the parenting books I have read so far on all sorts of topics this book points me back to Christ and the true purpose and origin of motherhood. It goes back to the first mother Eve, where after the fall God gives them the promise of future offspring and pointing to future redemption in Genesis 3:15. Even though God said that they would surely die when they ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, God chose that through an offspring (Jesus) that the world would be delivered from this death. Offspring then implies motherhood. Offspring implies that we are still living today because of this prophecy. Ultimately this all points to God's mercy in giving us life, and then the offer of eternal life through Jesus coming on earth to bear the wrath that we deserve for our sins. Motherhood then ought to point to the supreme worth and value of Jesus and delight in God's great mercy in granting us breath and life each day. The books talks about future grace a lot, which is a topic I haven't thought about as much before. That helps bring a long-term, eternal perspective on things. Thoughts that come to mind as I finish off the book are that ultimately womanhood does not mean motherhood. Womanhood means conforming to the image and likeness of Christ, and so does motherhood. It ultimately is for the glory of God and our worship and enjoyment of Him.
Personal/Post-partum Recovery/Health
I generally feel better since day 1 of course. Lately my back has been bothering me. I decided to buy a Manduca baby carrier (thanks hubby) which is much more supportive for an almost 20 pound baby. However my back is still bothering me and I believe I just need to work out my core muscles more. So hopefully I will figure out an exercise/stretching routine. I find myself also needing to drink more water as I get dehydrated from nursing. I joined a bible study on Nehemiah at church which allows me a nice break from Joanna and time to study the word and hopefully meet some new friends. I come to the mom and tot play group but so far it's a lot of talk about how your kid is doing and debriefing it seems while the kids have fun and making sure other kids aren't getting hurt. I told Stephen that something I miss after having Joanna is just having the moments of quiet to just read a book. He graciously took Joanna while I went for a walk to finish my book and pray. I also want to go swimming more but not in a rush to do too much.
Family
Hubby is almost done his Hebrew (not Hebrews) class! That is exciting. We are still leading a Bible Study on John. No exciting travel plans yet however we have talked about getting Joanna a baby passport. Reading the book of Daniel as our family devotion. The topic of Christian relationships has also been of conversation a lot lately. We thought that when we stopped dating it was the end of the dating game and all of its anxieties. However we want to be there for our single friends so the complexities are back in discussion. We need to be praying and trusting in the Lord while acting and speaking truth in love wherever we can. We are still also serving in the Missions Deacon committee at church as well. We have some chats on what we are interested to do this summer while small group season is on break...Joanna is also doing very well. She is figuring out how to crawl lately. We also introduced solid food (banana, cucumber, chicken) the past few days. We are trying the baby-led weaning route at the moment. It is fun to watch and wonderful to see God's design in watching Joanna grow. He gifted us with such a beautiful baby that he had knitted in my womb! We are open to having more children in the future in God's timing.
In short it's a work in progress. I have ton of things to put in storage and things to throw out. I always imagined that when I moved out I would be a minimalist. But here I have clutter to deal with now!? Hopefully time will be dedicated to some spring cleaning. My main priorities right now are just to wash the diapers, wash the dishes, and get food on the table. Tidying up in the living room and kitchen. Everything else is a bonus. I also want to side car Joanna's crib to our bed but that is for later...Also have shopping to do to replace items that have worn out (e.g. shoes) and things for babysafe-ing the place (e.g. guard rails for the kitchen, blocking off electronics) before Joanna gets crawling.
Blog
I am not sure what I want to do with this blog yet. Only 2 people really know about it as far as I am aware. There have been times I wanted to rant on this thing but I had needed to bring to prayer instead. I hope it will be a place where I can store memories so I can look back on and see how things have changed and what I have been learning and struggling through.
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