Ethan

http://www.ethanpowell.com/

This is a little boy who has been heavy on my heart for the last couple of weeks. Kevin has a cousin who keeps a list of children who are sick on their blog to get the word out for prayer. Their own Max was an example of how the Lord is still the God of Miracles. I have been praying for several of these children. Some are children of the Kingdom now. I have shed some tears over all of them, but for some reason this little Ethan has weighed heavy on my heart, to the point of weeping. I don't know this boy or his parents, but the Lord, on several occasions, has put their suffering upon my heart and I literally felt that this was my own son. Some might say "Jenni, quit checking on those blogs, you are going to make yourself crazy," but I am thankful to feel! The other day in the car while we were traveling, Alexis was watching "Little Mermaid" in the backseat and when the "scary" part came on, she put her fingers in her ears, closed her eyes, and said "tell me when it's over!" I think I have done that all my life!! "Lord, I can't bear it, tell me when it's over. I am going to build the walls up around my heart, and you can tell me when it is over!" What I have realized is that I was becoming numb to the "groaning" around me. Sure, I know it is there, but if I keep my eyes shut, and my fingers in my ears, it won't effect me! But I have to be AFFECTED!!!! God is waiting on me to MOVE! He has given me the Spirit "not of fear, but of Power, and of love, and of a sound mind." I have to release that Power in prayer, and in the Gifts that He has given. I need to pray for His "Kingdom to come" in the life of this child and into the lives of those who are "groaning" for the Lord. There is much suffering surrounding me, and God wants me to see this, and feel it in the depths. I have worried for too long over the small things: you know, "getting it right", that I have neglected to pray for the Kingdom to break open into the lives around me--those who suffer, those who don't know the Lord, those who know Him, but don't grasp His Power through the Spirit. I can't sit and wait for the Lord to come, I have to MOVE, praying boldly, letting Him use my gifts to bring about the Kingdom. Will that always result in a "miracle" on earth? NO, but the true miracle is overcoming death! My job is to believe in His power and that a miracle can and will happen, but His word is the ultimate and final word. And Praise God, that His Kingdom will come whether that is in this life or in physical death! I just want to quit sitting comfortably and idlely in my pew any longer, and be used by the Spirit in ways that bring about the Kingdom of God!

Anyway, I am sorry for the sermonette, but my heart was heavy and I let the Lord lead me.

Catching UP

I really thought that the last blog would create conversation on the "comment" board, but I guess I will have to get even more creative! But for now, I just will leave a few pics of the last week. Uncle Ryan brought Grandmommy up last weekend. He stayed last Saturday night, and Grandmommy stayed the week here with us. She left on Friday. I included a picture of the ice from over a week ago, a day after the first ice pics. It was a beautiful scene when the sun came up the next morning!! The pictures don't do it justice! The sun made all the ice look like crystal! I could not keep my eyes off of it! The sun was a sight for sore eyes that morning, thank you, Lord! We had a good week with our company! They will be missed!

FYI

Ok, I am going to defend my sweet Lexi at the risk of damaging my outstanding reputation and tell you that Miss Alexis Grace eats her boogars and I am proud of it! I have recently acquired great information that says boogar eating is healthy and normal! It has given me great peace and I will no longer tell her that it is gross or inappropriate, nor will I hide my head in shame when she publicly decides she needs a snack (or should I say healthy treat!) She is and has been, by the way, my most healthy child--rarely ever gets sick with a cold or virus! Here is the information I have obtained! Enjoy!

PICKING BOOGERS FROM THE NOSE AND EATING THEM IS ACTUALLY A NORMAL, INSTINCTUAL BEHAVIOR THAT HAS BEEN FROWNED UPON ONLY WITHIN THE LAST SEVERAL HUNDRED YEARS...*to be read by Peter Jones like a "Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy" entry*Mucophagy (literally mucus-eating, also referred as picking one's nose and eating it) is the consumption of the nasal mucus, boogers, and other detritus obtained from nose-picking.Modern scientific research suggests that mucophagy seems to be a natural and even healthy activity, which exposes the digestive system to bacteria accumulated in the mucus, thereby helping to strengthen the overall immune system.The body even naturally encourages the formation of a dense, salty coating to the boogers to make them more palatable. There is no other known reason for the high salt content in the mucus in the nose.In mankind's caveman times - it would not have been strange to spend an evening sitting around with friends and sampling each other's boogers. It sounds disgusting - but its simply part of our instinctual primate grooming behaivors that have only recently been repressed through collective social training.Studies done on dozens of feral human children found in the wild and raised by animals (and possessing no knowledge of modern social mores) show that they all spent at least a part of each day carefully clearing out their nostrils and consuming the boogers. It SOUNDS bestial and ignorant to us today - but Mother Nature (or God) always has a very good reason for putting non-learned, instinctual behaivor like this into our brains from the get go...It has been speculated that the reason why humans have become so susceptible to viruses and bacterial infections in the last 500 years or so is indeed, because we have lost this beneficial, immune system strengthening behaivor.

Now this doesn't mean I'm going to start eating my own boogers to stay healthy... (the idea is revolting)... however, the next time you do catch someone popping a dandy into his or her mouth after coring out the old schnozz rockets... don't be so quick to judge them as dirty or disgusting or ignorant... remember that it's just an unconscious, instinctual behavior that we all possess... and some people are just better at repressing it than others.Bon appetite!

Have a Great DAY!

(She is going to kill me for this one day!)

Do your trees hang low?

Deja-vu in Springfield. We
are learning to live with the
ice! Good news is that we have power and it looks like it will stay that way, the storm last year took care of that for us.

Looks like we won't be grilling tonight?
!

This limb is creeping up on our bathroom
window

I heard this one snap in the middle of the night

hang in there, it's gonna warm up tomorrow!

Peek-a-boo

I am sad to report that the days of seeing those sweet little eyes peeking over the bumper pad like these pictures are history. Today I walked in after his nap

and found him almost in a full stand! Instead of peeking over the bumper, he was peeking over the top of the bed. Just as cute, but most of you know that when they get to that pulling up stage they are a little harder to put down!

Yes, Eli is on the MOVE! These naps are interfering with all the fun he could be having! He has figured out that while he naps, Aaron and Alexis (when she is here) are playing and he would like to be right in the middle of it all! When I put him down he tries to be strong, but his little lips begin to quiver and he drops his head in defeat! I have a feeling that over the next few days he will be standing in that bed, stubbornly waiting for us to cave to his hoarse little cries! Cause we do, we cave! And not just me, Aaron and Alexis can't stand to hear him cry either, it breaks their hearts. He does have a pitiful little cry.

Snow Days

We had some great snow yesterday, but by this afternoon it was just about gone! There is a saying in Springfield that if you don't like the weather, stick around 5 minutes, it will change. That proved ture today! Lexi worried that she was not going to be able to make a snowman before it all melted! But Kevin got home in time to help put one together. We are proud of the little guy (not Kevin, the snowman)! The kids look forward to snow all year, and we haven't had as much as we typically get in the winter. It was a little sad to watch it go. Lexi had the last 2 days off because of the snow, and it was really nice to have her home. Have a good superbowl weekend, everyone!

Big month for Little E

At 71/2 months Eli got 2 teeth and learned to crawl. It has been pretty exciting around our house. Any time Eli does anything new we cannot control the excitement! While most in the house are celebrating, I have to admit that I am mourning just a bit. He is my last baby, afterall. I was thinking today how I wish I could go back and truly believe in my heart that the others were my "last baby." With Eli, I rock him a lot longer, hold him everywhere I go (meaning I take him out of that prison of a car seat), worry less about putting him down on schedule, and I really don't care if he wakes me up in the middle of the night to snuggle. Though I enjoyed all of my babies, this time around I am soaking it up a little bit more and worrying less about "getting it right." They just aren't babies for very long. I got so tired of hearing that from everyone, but I get it now, yup, I get it! By the way, don't you all just love the "deer-in the-headlights" look I seem to always catch with Eli?