Mother's Day

My little helper

So we like to start 'em early around here doing chores. :)  Greg always said he couldn't wait until Jude was older so when I said, "Greg, can you take out the trash?", he could turn to Jude and say, "Son, can you take out the trash?"  :)  Funny thing is, Jude has had a fascination with the swiffer broom for as long as he has been mobile.  He would follow me as I swept, holding on to the bottom of the broom.  Now that he's walking, he loves any chance he can find the swiffer out and available.  Maybe I should make this a video to sell called, "You, too, can teach your 14-month old to sweep your house."


He also loves to pull clothes out of the laundry basket, piece by piece, hurling them over his shoulder without even looking.  Unfortunately, he also likes to do this with the clean clothes that I take out of the dryer and put on the couch to fold.  I've given up fighting that battle.  So now, he throws each piece off the couch as I fold, and once he's done, he picks each piece back up, putting it on the couch, so that he can again hurl each piece over his shoulder across the room.  Here is Jude "re-sorting" my laundry piles for me.

Greg's Ordination Service

Jude is so proud of his daddy.

This past Sunday was a really special day for us.  After almost 5 years of seminary training and all that happened in-between (marriage, a baby, and 3 degrees later), Greg's call was affirmed by the Southern New England Presbytery and this past Sunday, he was ordained as a minister of the Presbyterian Church of America.  It was an exciting day - to see God's call on Greg's life affirmed by so many, but also a weighty day as Greg understands that this is not a title or an achievement, but an immense amount of responsibility given to him by the Lord.  He has definitely felt the weightiness of this over the past week.  But we are also celebrating this mile-marker: marking the end of seminary and training and affirmation of our call, and also marking the beginning of the path for which we have been preparing so long.  We are so thankful for all those who have supported and encouraged us through the past 5 years of seminary.  God used so many of you in such significant ways in our lives - you will always be part of the story we tell of how God provided for us while both of us were in seminary.  Thank you.

Unfortunately, the service was on Mother's Day, so many of our friends were not able to make it.  And family, of course, lives very far away.  So I wanted to video the ordination part of the service so that many of you could feel a part of it and see what it is about.  Dr. Lints, our dear friend and professor from Gordon-Conwell who is also one of our pastors at CityLife, led the ordination time. 
Here is the video of the ordination (about 18 minutes) and the second video is Greg giving his first benediction at the end of the service (about 30 seconds).

A momentous weekend

This weekend was packed with some pretty significant events.  It began with Jude's first haircut.  I have been fighting this as long as possible, but we got to the point where EVERYONE (that didn't know him) thought he was a girl - even when decked out in solid blue.  Not just a person here or there, but on one single trip to the grocery, I might get 4 or 5 "pretty girl" comments and no illusions to his boy-ness.  So I started to feel the pressure.  I think his first haircut at Snip-Its (I was terrified to do it myself) was just as painful for me as it was for him.  Here is the progression of the event:

Pre-haircut.  I LOVE the curls - "please don't cut off all the curls"

In the chair - "I'm not so sure about this, guys."

And the crying began.

And continued.

and continued....through the entire haircut.

the end result.  now mama is crying.

Second event of the weekend:  Good Harbor Beach - our favorite beach up here, about 10 minutes from us.  We haven't had a spring yet in Boston.  The weather is still in the 50s and low 60s.  So on a day when the temperature gets into the Low 60s, it's time for the beach, right?  We've only had two days so far this year that have hit 70 degrees.  And it's mid-May.  This is the roughest winter yet, and I am DONE.....can't handle any more.  I just want to be outside.

Other two significant events:  Greg's Ordination Service and Mother's Day - next post.