Tent of Meeting and Glory of the Lord.

I have been reading Exodus lately. For a few chapters it was rough to get through, when God was giving Moses all the laws on top of the mountain. It's neat to read them now, knowing that Jesus came to we wouldn't have to follow OT law anymore, but they are still a challenge to read.

Today, I got through them and got to chapter 33. Here are a few of the amazing verses I read this morning. How amazing that Moses got to talk with and experience God in that way! Wow.

First, God tells them to go to the "land flowing with milk and honey" (verse 3)  that He was preparing for them, but He will not go with them because the Israelites were "stiff-necked people and He might destroy them on the way." (verse 3) In the chapter previous, the Israelites had just made/worshipped a golden calf because they thought Moses was taking too long up on the mountain.

Then it talks about Moses going into the Tent of Meeting.

"As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the LORD spoke with Moses. Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshipped, each at the entrance to his tent. The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend." (Verses 9-11, emphasis mine)

Later on God says, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But", He said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live." (Verses 19-20)

"When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back, but my face will not be seen." (Verses 22-23, emphasis mine)

Amazing.

High Needs Babies.

12 Characteristics of High Needs Babies

I was talking to a friend, and in our conversation she brought up some "high needs characteristics" that her baby met/displays, specifically in talking about separation anxiety and leaving children in the nursery.

Her baby and my Norah sounded similar, in the separation anxiety realm. I hadn't specifically heard of the high needs characteristics, so I wanted to look them up. I really don't think Norah displays many of the characteristics listed in the article, but I definitely resonated with the "separation sensitive" characteristic. Norah doesn't like to be away from me. She warms up slowly, doesn't like it if I leave her, and doesn't like new people to hold her. (Sometimes it's crazy how much your children are like you. I was the same way.)

I actually really loved the way this article described it. I feel like people generally have a negative connotation to the term "high needs" or "high maintenance," but I don't necessarily think that's true in regards to babies. Every baby is different and every baby has different needs. Granted, some things your baby does may not always be pleasant, like night waking or screaming, but that doesn't mean that you have a bad child or that you are a bad parent. You do what you need to do to help your baby!

Here is one of the paragraphs from the "separation sensitive" category:

Your baby’s quality of being very selective about who cares for her shows that she has great discernment. High need babies know which situations and which persons they can trust to meet their needs, and they protest if these expectations are not met. Loud separation protests also reveal that these babies have a capacity for forming deep attachments — if they didn’t care deeply, they wouldn’t fuss so loudly when separated. This capacity is the forerunner of intimacy in adult relationships.

That makes me feel pretty good about Norah! Thank you to whoever wrote that for phrasing it in a positive light.

Blessed to live by my sister!

We were able to have my sister and friends over for dinner the other night. So glad we live in the same town! 

Happy Easter 2015! (Part 2)

Easter Sunday was filled with cute baby dresses, first Easter baskets, church, family, church friends over for lunch, easter egg hunts, Norah licking eggs, sitting outside, and going for a walk. It was pretty amazing. Hope you all had a great Easter!

Dress debut.

First Easter basket.

Sibling shot.

Grandpa and Grandma (not proud at all!).

Our little beauty.

Sisters.

Uncle Keaton.

Family of three!

Egg hunt.

Happy Easter 2015! (Part 1)

 Happy Easter! We are in Des Moines for the weekend visiting my family, and it's so good to be here and see them! Friday we went to Omaha for the Ver Steeg shopping trip with all of Kley's aunts and girl cousins. It was nice to see Elizabeth, who was back from Chicago for the weekend! After shopping we headed to Des Moines.

Saturday we hung out at home, went mini-golfing, and took Norah to see the Easter bunny for the first time! Norah slept through it, which was probably best since she wouldn't have liked it anyways. Also, we didn't get a great picture. Bummer. (I feel strongly about teaching Norah that Christmas is about Christ's birth, and Easter is about His death/resurrection, but I am not opposed to taking them to see santa and the bunny if it's all just in fun and we talk about it beforehand.)

Then we got some pretty adorable Easter pictures of Norah. :)

Hope you all have a great Easter and enjoy some time with friends and family! Most importantly, we are so thankful for Jesus' death and resurrection. Through Him our sins are forgiven and we can live eternally! I have been thinking about a hymn we sang at my grandma's church growing up. Thank you, Jesus, for rising from the grave!

1. Low in the grave He lay,
   Jesus, my Savior,
   Waiting the coming day,
   Jesus, my Lord!
   • Refrain:
     Up from the grave He arose,
     With a mighty triumph o’er His foes,
     He arose a Victor from the dark domain,
     And He lives forever, with His saints to reign.
     He arose! He arose!
     Hallelujah! Christ arose!
2. Vainly they watch His bed,
   Jesus, my Savior;
   Vainly they seal the dead,
   Jesus, my Lord!
3. Death cannot keep his Prey,
   Jesus, my Savior;
   He tore the bars away,
   Jesus, my Lord!

Check out my sister!

My Day on the Magnificent Mile

My sister, Elizabeth, is in Chicago for this semester interning at The Magnificent Mile. She was featured on their "What's Hot" page, talking about her "Day on the Magnificent Mile." Check it out- how cool! Way to go, Elizabeth!

My favorite April Fool's joke.

Bob Barker returns to The Price is Right

To be honest, I barely even remembered that yesterday was April Fool's day. I didn't see very many jokes, but this was my favorite. 91-year-old Bob Barker returned to The Price is Right!