Harms Family News

I hope everyone has been able to spend time with loved ones over this holiday. I am beginning to enjoy it more and more. It is one of the few holidays that is not highly commercialized. We are visiting my family in KC, minus Joey, but plus one set of grandparents (my dad's parents). We did a quick trip to the KC zoo in spite of the cold on Black Friday. Natalie has been enjoying decorating Grandma's Christmas trees. This is her first year to really get into that. The decorations are a little low on the tree, however. She has said many funny things but one sticks out particularly. She was putting an ornament on the tree, and she said, "I do this one by my self." It fell to the ground and she said, "Maybe not." Not quite as funny without the adorable squeaky voice, of course. When we arrived we went potty first thing. She saw some wipes in the bathroom similar to what we use at home and said, "Grandma buy those blue wipes for me? That's very nice of...

Last night when Tim got home I had Natalie say her verse for him (see video below). He was duly impressed and said, "That was a good job Boo Boo (her nickname)." She replied "You're Welcome. I'll be here all night."

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Like any mommy, I get frustrated with my children. Both Natalie and Megan have been off for a while, and I haven't been getting much sleep because of it. I have to confess I have been struggling to be patient with them! Turns out they (and I) were in dire need of a visit the chiropractor. We went yesterday and they both slept through the night. Anyways, I have been reminded through the struggles of others how precious the life of my children is. If you are reading this, hug your kids, and please pray for these little ones: Macy - Macy is four years old and just went through exentsive open heart surgery. Her mommy and I went to college together. This is the second child they have had to put through the same surgery. She is in a lot of pain. Zach - Zach is 9 or 10 (can't remember) and the friend of a friend. He was in an accident caused by a drunk driver and suffered a serious head trauma. After spending a week in a comatose like state, he is now doing well and at home, but has...

My child amazes me! (What mommy doesn't say that :)) Anways, we were cleaning up and she came accross her Bible book, one that we have not read because it is too advanced for her. She was looking at the pics and saw Adam and Eve. Not sure how she knew it, but she pipes up "That's Adam and Eve in this book, Mommy!" Mommy: That's right. How did you know that? Natalie: Adam and Eve, Don't Eat Fruit That Tree! They disobey. Daddy: Who did they disobey? Natalie: They eat the fruit. Mommy: Who told them not to eat the fruit? Natalie: God Mommy: What happened when they ate the fruit? Natalie (thinking for a long time): They gets a time-out! Soooo funny. I had no idea she knew that much of the story. It's been my turn to do junior church, and I have not told Adam and Eve's story. We do have a Bible book that has it in there that we read from time to time, but I didn't know that she was listening that well!

I just had a very special conversation with Natalie. I had to discipline her because she did not obey what she was told. Afterward I gave her a hug and prayed with her. I told her she needed to obey her mommy and daddy because the Bible says "Children, Obey your parents." God wanted her to obey, and I wanted to teach her how. Natalie: Where does God live? Mommy: God lives in heaven. Natalie: I wanna go to heaven. I love God. Mommy: Well, if you ask Jesus to save you from your sins when you are older you can go to heaven. Natalie: With mommy? Mommy: Yes Natalie: and Daddy? Mommy: Yes At this point I felt the overwhelming need to pray, so we prayed that Natalie would understand how to become a Christian when she is older. Natalie: Goody goody goody, I love heaven. Mommy: That's good. Natalie: Is heaven very far away? Mommy: yes, heaven is very far away. Natalie: Ok , I watch a movie! Too funny. (She gets to watch a movie when we take long car trips). So experienced mommies ...

A facebook friend offered a link to an article by Cal Thomas that was published in his local paper (imagine!) The article is here . It is an excellent look at how Christians should view the changes occurring in our country, not just in our government, but in society as a whole. I have struggled with this in light of recent election results. I am not thrilled with our new president's views on several moral issues. I am happy that Proposition 8 was passed in California. However, deep down inside I believe it is only a matter of time before gay marriage, abortion, and several other moral issues are a part of my daily life. Is it really the government's job to fix these problems? Is it possible to "legislate morality" as they always talk about? These are questions I have been wrestling with, and the article provides a fresh take on our responsibility. Does this mean I will not vote or encourage my congressmen and women to vote morally on legislation? No, but it does put l...

I want to chronicle some of the funny things Natalie says so I can remember them later. On Friday we were coming home from story time at the library and she started singing "Jesus Loves Me" when out of the blue she said, "Jesus is mad at me." Floored, I didn't know what to say, so I said, "Jesus isn't mad at you, He loves you!" and she replied, "I'm just saying a silly thing." She is very excited about winter. She said today "Penguins love cold weather mommy!" Not sure, but she might think penguins are going to show up when it snows. She looked outside the other day and noticed that the trees are almost bare. She said, "The trees are almost done with their leaves, so it's almost snow time. Goody, goody, goody!" We talked about creation in Children's Church this past week. When I asked her what God made first she said, "creations." When she wants to ask why, she asks "why not?" This morni...

That's all I can say. look at these two pictures: Do you know who is who? Top pic - Megan 3 months old. Bottom pic - Natalie 6 months old. Crazy!

Megan got a nice bonk on her head today and I had to take her to the doctor. She now weights 19 lbs 10 oz. That was fully dressed, but still. Her carseat only holds 22 pounds. Time to start shopping for a new one. Sigh - taking a baby that cannot sit up in and out of places in the winter without an infant carrier is going to be a real challenge.

Ok, back to what I was saying. I spend a lot of time online, visiting blogs and facebook, when I need a break from work (which is also online). I see many, many people that were kids when I was in high school (younger kids) and have gone far from what we believe. These are typically third or fourth generation Christians. I am not talking about questionable things, but things that are definitely black and white in the Bible. Some things are wrong, no matter how you look at them, in light of Scripture. So I have been contemplating how this applies to me as a Christian mom. I must pray daily for guidance. I must work carefully to protect my small children from the negative influences I see out there. I must teach them about sin, what it is, how to discern it, and how to avoid it. I must be consistent in my loving discipline of them. The goal is not just to create well-rounded adults who fit in well to society. The goal is to create children who are settled and grounded in their faith and ...

I have been learning some things lately. As a teacher, I know that no one is ever too old to learn, so I don't know why it comes as such a surprise to me when I am learning new things. I'm also a writer, so I am going to write my thoughts as a form of therapy. 1) Trust - This election did not go as i had hoped, although it did go as I expected. Being from Illinois, it did not seem as though there were anyone else who could possibly win other than Obama. It is interesting to me how quickly we have gotten over our racial issues in this country. The Jim Crow laws that were so horrible were not that long ago, and today we are on the brink of having a half-black man in the White House. My issues with Obama were nothing to do with the color of his skin. There are so many unknowns about the man, and I do fear his ties to Islam. We can hide our heads in the sand about this, but the Islamic nation wants to kill all "infidels," which would include me as a born again Christian. ...

And I got it on tape! Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books