I love this time of year! The weather has been so nice here. I'm also looking forward to vacation next month and the holidays. My brother Bobby is getting married November 13th so Mike, Malachi and I are going to Illinois for that and then staying the following week. Spending time with family will be so nice, and having a baby there will make it extra fun.

As you can see from the pictures above, Malachi is getting into many things. I simply cannot believe that he is already 11 months old. He certainly keeps me busy!

Babysitting for my neighbor is going well. I feel very blessed to have this little job. Also, yesterday she told me that her mom wants to buy some of my homemade peppermint and lavender soaps. This will be my first sale. Lord willing, I will be selling more this spring.

"The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself." - Proverbs 11:25

Righteousness and Peace

I praise the Lord for His many blessings. Life has been pretty busy here. Our church is doing well. We are praying about starting Reformers Unanimous (RU) meetings. RU is a faith-based addiction recovery program. They call it the one step program: one step to Jesus! Last week, Mike and his dad went to the Reformers Unanimous National Conference in Rockford, Illinois. They said that it was a very refreshing time and came back encouraged in the Lord. I missed my husband but was really glad that he went because the Lord blessed.

While they were gone, Mike's mom stayed each night with Malachi and me. We had a nice time of fellowship. On Tuesday I had a couple homeschooling families over and we had a Chinese culture day. We enjoyed learning how to speak and write some Chinese, eating mooncakes and tea eggs, browsing through some books, and watching a few short videos. That night a group of us ate some homemade pizza. Yummy! The next day, some friends came over and we made soap. Mine was a mildly cleansing peppermint-scented bar for sensitive skin. It turned out great! I tried it last night.

Last week my next door neighbor came and asked if I knew anyone who could watch her son a few hours a week. I said that I would be willing, and I started on Monday. Her son is a bright and beautiful four month-old named Ovadya, which is Hebrew for Obadiah. Two blue-eyed baby boys are a handful, but this is the funnest job I've ever had! Too bad it will only be for a couple months.

Malachi is getting around really well now, crawling and cruising more than ever. Mike and I get a kick out of his new discoveries. He's pointing to things that he wants or is curious about now. I'm often surprised at what he notices. He's also repeating several words including banana, drink, done, Dada, Mama, and DUCK (Grandma LaJennesse should be so proud!).

Having made a Jewish friend recently, I've started studying about Christ in the Old Testament. Hebrews 6:20 says that Christ was "made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec." This Melchisedec was "first being by interpreteation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace" and a type of Christ (7:2). Jesus Christ fulfilled Psalm 85:10 which says, "Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other." I would encourage you to study this for yourself. In Christ alone can you have both true righteousness and everlasting peace.