Sophia's Birthday

Okay, I promise not to go overboard with posting videos here, but yesterday was Sophia's 6th birthday, and she had a Suzuki Violin Concert at the Christian Women's Club in Springfield. She's in the flowered dress...for those of you not familiar with violin, one important thing to notice is that her bow is going the same way as the other kids....she told me before the performance that she didn't want to play the violin anymore, but today she's decided she'll play just until she's 7.

So I just realized that I could use You Tube to put videos on here....something I had wanted to do when some of the Moore grandchildren had a near-death experience with a tornado warning, while waiting in the scary basement....so this is a test.....


It seems to have trouble keeping the sound and the picture together....hmmmmm

A sophia moment

I had a great Sophia moment that I want to try to hang on to....She and I were alone in the swimming pool, and I decided to try to sit on top of the innertube...which is not an easy task.

After a few tries I thought I had it...when suddenly I flipped completely over backwards. When I came out of the water I heard the sweetest, purest, most joyful laugh from Sophia...I don't really know how to adequately describe it....but it just made me think that I'd like to do more things with her just to hear that laugh and see the look on her face when she's laughing like that.

Death by Suburbs

How do you know that you are being poisoned by your environment? Maybe when you make yourself believe you need a new 32" HD flat screen tv.....after all, the hand-me-down big screen projection tv we had is busted....and we can't watch the Steelers play on the 19 inch tv we have upstairs....it's a ministry tool - we watch Beth Moore videos on it.....

But then we got this thing home and every time I walked by it, I felt stupid.

Stupid because we spent so much money on a tv - even with the bargain hunting and comparison shopping, it was alot of money. Stupid because for the amount of money we spent, the sound and the picture quality were pretty disappointing. Stupid because we've got a car with 175,000 miles on it and can't figure out how we'll afford to replace it one day....yet we have this monsterous tv. Stupid because it represents our mixed up priorities.

So, the tv is going back. They told us we've got 30 days to change our minds and we did.

And then I read this article in Christianity Today and wondered how we can keep ourselves from being influenced by our environment? The author suggests that we don't need to do anything too extreme, and that we can learn to "be in the world, but not of the world", but I'm wondering, what if your tv causes you to stumble? Take it back! What if your neighbors make you think you need to drive a newer/bigger/nicer car? Maybe we should get new neighbors? Maybe....I don't know the answer....but I thought they were good questions our family probably needs to be asking...

Catalyst

Is anyone else planning to go to the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta this October?

Personalities

We've been biking alot this summer.....this week we bought Sophia a big-girl bike (she was so excited about having a kick-stand) because we realized she had to pedal at the speed of light to keep up with us (which, by the way, she did with no problem!). Our summer goal is to bike from Rochester to the Department of Transportation in Springfield on the Lost Bridge Trail. We've gotten about 3.5 miles and back so far.

I was struck by how different our girls are as I peddled behind them....

Sophia is the leader....We let her lead because she likes to go faster than the rest of us, and because she's kind of crazy when she rides (she'd fail a bike-sobriety test). She rarely sits when she rides....she's usually standing on the pedals, getting the most force out of them....she got far ahead of us today and I did see her sit down, but I think it was only because she wanted to see how far she could go without peddling, feet straight out to the sides.

Sarah doesn't mind lagging behind. Today she told me, "I like the trail because of nature, and because you can really think about things when you're riding". She takes her time, listening to the different bird sounds and stopping to pick the ripe black raspberries along the trail.

I love learning from them. Man, I have a great family!!

A Goode Weekend

We made a trip to Anamosa, Iowa for a wedding this weekend.....2 CSF alums getting hitched, and Sarah Jane and Sophia were the flower girls. Everything was just beautiful, and we had a great time seeing the Goodes and VM's....as well as sitting with several old married csf couples at the reception!! Here are a few highlights....