howdy::sept09

hey all!

by request of my sista - i am blogging! it has been since the first day of kindergarten, so i guess it is only fair to update you on the status of the uhls home!

first of all - riley is doing GREAT in school. his teacher has been quite the blessing to us - and evidently she feels the same about our sweet riley. he came home yesterday with a note attached to him that said "i read a book today all my myself." now, that is progress! he is asking constantly how to spell words and just tonight - he asked if i could use my tracking finger while we were reading before bed. precious! it is still hard for mommy though. i would rather school be every other day for just two hours or so. not saying that next year might hold something different for us, but for now and for this year, our little boy is happy and therefore mom is happy. our prayers are being answered and we trust that god led us to this decision for a reason. we are enjoying seeing this story unfold!

reed is doing well too. he is enjoying his time with mommy - well, i think he is! he doesn't ask for riley much - other than when we are going to go and pick him up. he just knows he's at school. his sentences are progressing and he sounds so big! we are even entertaining the idea of a big boy bed. notice i said entertaining!!! :-) that crib is such a nice place to have a time=out, since the stairs don't seem to work for this little one. the bed is nice except, as kristina saw today (sorry you had to witness that!) he gets so upset that he tinkles in the bed. oh gosh, never thought i would have type the word tinkle... is that even spelled right??? reed's new phrases are...
::can i, can i???
::oh mom, it is so very cold (or so very hot) or so very *whatever*
::mom, can i play tennis?

he is totally cute - and totally mischievous at the same time. love his HEART!
*how do you like the leg warmers? he didn't want to give up these too small pjs, so we cut them off and he likes wearing them - without the leggings - as underwear. just in case you were wondering*



jason's job in california is drawing to a slow close. he has been there more the past two months that in the last six (well, it just feels that way, i'm sure it's not reality) - just being honest!!! so we are praying about where he will be next and praying for one that isn't quite as stressful - oh YES LORD! :o)



that's about all that is going on here - it's been rainy, but not too cold. definitely fall weather-ish - and actually, we have enjoyed the rain. it has been cozy on the days that we needed coziness. i've been discovering more and more that GOD is good, girls, GOD is good. a friend of mine challenged me to get up and get in the word for 30 days straight and it would make a difference in my life and OH, MY, she was so right. i have been kind of hermit-ish, well i feel that way at least, but what i did was i dove in to studying the different kinds of loves - eros (groovy kind of love), philos (common interest love, friends, sisterly love) and the best of all, agape (the god kind of love). what i have been so tenderly hearing is that i can easily muster up the common interest love, but it's the agape love - the unconditional love - that i have a hard time with. and so, i tried to figure out why this was and was drawing a blank. i have always felt loved by my family and my friends. that ah-ha moment was that it's that "I" have to be taken out of the equation. agape isn't the kind of love that i can muster up - it's got to be oozing out of me b/c jesus is IN me.

I CANNOT DO IT.

as hard as i try...

I CANNOT DO IT.

my motives have to be truly from HIM - and the only way to get there is to be with HIM daily and to be in the WORD daily. this kind of love is the supernatural outcome of being filled with the spirit (rom 5:5; gal 5:22)

i want to ooze with the agape kind of love.

i KNOW that god has been working on me tenderly over the last few months about how to do this with my boys - well, specifically the main boy. why is it that when the hustle and bustle of life comes that we forget to talk to our best friends - and when we do, we end up saying not so nice things? well, perhaps it's just me - but perhaps not. so i am working on being NOT a nag - and more of a safe, uplifting place for my man.

but now i am feeling a little nudge on how to love god's somebody (the ones that may not be easy to love). give it up melanie that it will be work to invest in someone new - give it up melanie that you will become weary and it will be hard to love on someone not so loveable - just give it up...

i'm beginning to understand how to do this kind of love with my family - now, LORD, make it spread to ALL AREAS of my life. give up what I think and let God do the thinking for me.

i will end with a tweet i rec'd today (yes, i joined twitter, but i'm not really sure why. i still don't "get" it but am sure loving getting updates from KLOVE!)

Words are wonderful, but when you walk in love, your commitment must contain much more than just words. (1 John 3:18)

see, even tweets can be used for encouragement!!! let me know what is going on with each of you all - what are you learning? what is going on in your worlds??? do we need another list of questions to get the ball rolling??? :o)

hugs to you all!
mel