Play the Day Away

Yesterday, I went out to lunch with my friend Kristen and her son Elliott while Bonnie watched Joshua. Then last night, I had class. I felt like I didn't have all that much time with Joshua, so today I decided that I'm going to clear my schedule and play with him the entire day. No grading papers or writing the exam for this coming Thursday, no copy jobs, nothing but fun with my son!

I dug out all the toys that said 3+ months because he should have been 3 months on Tuesday. He's still not too interested in toys, though, and is more interested in what you are saying or doing with him, such as bicycling his feet or playing with his hands. He played on his belly while I showed him different things and laid on my belly (he still didn't really enjoy the belly time), he played in the exersaucer my sister lent us while I showed him how the different things worked, he played in the nursery on the floor, but unfortunately, there isn't much playing involved on his part yet. :( Some day! Right now I'm posting this as he's taking a nap.

Joshua is DEFINITELY a morning person. When you walk into his room in the morning, he has the biggest smile waiting for you. He talks to you the entire time you change his diaper and clothing, and even smiles during his breakfast, which can lead to a messy little chin. He's such a happy guy first thing in the a.m. His joyful spirit has led daddy to get up just a little earlier each day to go into his room and play a few minutes before work. I think it's great father-son bonding time since Shawn is NOT a morning person, but Joshua has completely won him over. There is truly no better way to start your day than to see his smile.

This morning I read the following passage to him from the Bible:

Galations 5:16-23

16-18 My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God's Spirit. Then you won't feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don't you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence?

19-21 It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on. This isn't the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God's kingdom.

22-23 But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.

We are continually in awe of God's awesomeness, wisdom and love for us...