Motherhood

I read this yesterday on John Piper's desiringgod.org and found it to be one of the most encouraging words on motherhood I've read. And I felt it was good enough to share - here's an abridged version:

Motherhood is not a hobby, it is a calling. You do not collect children because you find them cuter than stamps. It is not something to do if you can squeeze the time in. It is what God gave you time for.

Christian mothers carry their children in hostile territory...You stand with the defenseless and in front of the needy. You represent...laying down your life for another - and laying down your life for another represents the gospel.

So lay down your hopes. Lay down your future. Lay down your petty annoyances. Lay down your desire to be recognized. Lay down your fussiness at your children. Lay down your perfectly clean house. Lay down your grievances about the life you are living. Lay down the imaginary life you could have had by yourself. Let it go.

...Live the gospel in the things no one sees. Sacrifice for your children in places that only they will know about. Put their value ahead of yours. Grow them up in the clean air of gospel living. Your testimony to the gospel in the little details of your life is more valuable to them than you can imagine. If you tell them the gospel, but live to yourself, they will never believe it. Give your life for theirs every day, joyfully. Lay down pettiness. Lay down fussiness. Lay down resentment about the dishes, about the laundry, about how no one knows how hard you work.

Stop clinging to yourself and cling to the cross. There is more joy and more life and more laughter on the other side of death than you can possibly carry alone.

Do's and Don't's

I am often surprised and amused by the things I hear myself saying to Barrett. You'd think that some things would go without saying, but here's a partial list of some of the things I have actually had to tell Barrett not to do in the past week:

"Barrett, please don't....

-lick the counter (while checking out at The Gap)
-throw your Captain America shield at your baby sister
-give your baby sister a wet willy
-talk about your private parts at church
-tell a woman you just met that she is disgusting
-tell your mommy and daddy that you will "poop on us" if we say something you don't like

Update

I am the worst about getting updates on the blog, but here's a peek at what's been happening around here...

We've been having the best (and the hottest) summer here at the Wood house. Caroline is growing SO fast - she's 95th percentile in both weight and height, so she's proportional, but big. In the past month or so, she has totally emerged as a talkative and happy girl. For the first several months, she was very, very serious, but she seems to be lightening up a lot and enjoying her summer right along with the rest of us. She's totally in love with Barrett and finds him hilarious - she laughs at pretty much anything he does (which he loves, too, of course). She's eating solids at two meals/day and she's still doing great with sleeping. Such an angel. As for Barrett, he's in full-on big boy mode. We've been going to the pool as much as possible. He's so daring and he loves his floaties.
Making little sister laugh before lunch time.
Fun in the tub with mom Matt is the funnest dad ever. Ever. We have some seriously lucky kids.
Now get ready to see the most adorable chubby baby picture ever...

I'm going to try to post more pictures on facebook. That's it for now. Enjoy.