Alea is 10 months!

My precious baby girl is now 10 months old as of September 12th (the same day her new best friend Vera Port was born!).  She is up to all sorts of new things, like saying momma (love this!), and dog (she will point at the dog or say dog when she hears a bark).  She loves waving and waves every time she hears someone say hi or bye.  She is also all about the clapping!  If others are clapping or if she hears music or if someone says Yeah!, she will start clapping.  I think she is going to be musically inclined too as she starts bopping her head every time a song comes on and she tries to sing along with me when I sing to her.
She is still pretty tiny; I am not sure how I have such a petite little girl!  She weighed in at 18 pounds, 11 ounces and was 27 1/2 inches long at her 9 months appt.  This was approximately the 40th percentile.   I think she is going to be an athletic little thing, she is very coordinated-not walking yet, but will be anyday.  She is also quite the daredevil, wanting to climb on anything she can get her feet up on! 
I love having a daughter and I thank God for her everyday! What a beautiful gift God has given me in Alea. 

   

The Music of My Life-"It's Good to Know"

Second installment of the lessons I am learning from a certain cd that my son still has to listen to everytime we are in the van and the same cd that my husband says I must destroy before he gets back from Africa.  (he likes the songs and the messages from the songs, but is a wee bit tired of listening to it over and over!)  The cd is Francesca Battistelli's "One Hundred More Years" cd. This particular song is titled "It's Good to Know". 

Verse 1:
Hello, old friend
I know it's been a while
I'm here again
And it won't be the last time
I fall apart
But You won't let me get too far
You're speaking to my heart

(Chorus)
It's good to know
It's good to feel the arms of grace
To know that my mistakes are covered by Your love
It's good to know
It's good to see that You won't change
When it's said and done
You'll always be enough
To know that I can always come back home
It's good to know
Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh
It's good to know
Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh

Verse 2:
Goodbye, old me
Yeah there's so much more that I
Know I could be
So take my worries with
You when you leave
There's hope that I am counting on
'Cause I'm never too far gone

It's good to know
It's good to know
I'm covered by Your love

Isn't it sooooo good to know?  That you are covered in love by His grace?  To know that you can always come back home to Him?  I have no clue what I would do without this reassurance.  I think about the times I have failed, that I have given in to sin, and the guilt that comes from that...But God in his infinite goodness reminds me that it doesn't matter what I do, he loves me no matter what!  There is not a sin so great He doesn't forgive.  Does this mean we can go do whatever we want in life and sin because we know God will forgive us?  ABSOLUTELY not, God calls His people to be holy, set apart, to love like Him.  We should daily be striving towards this, but we are not perfect and God knows this.  He knows we will make mistakes, but loves us anyway.  Everyday I set out with the best of intentions-I am going to be patient with my children, I am going to be selfless and put everyone's needs before my own, I am going to extend grace to my husband instead of nagging at him, I am going to stay pure in my thoughts and actions, I am going to spend quiet time with God, and EVERYDAY, at some point, I do not do these things! Not because I don't want to because I do, but because I am a sinner... This would be so depressing if it weren't for the fact that I know God loves me and that is not going to change. I get to feel His "arms of grace" around me all day long.  I hope you get that experience too and if you don't, there is a way, and it is so simple!  We can always "come home" to God with no fear and no guilt.