I Have a Blog?

I noticed this link on my facebook page today, and I suddenly remembered that I have a blog (sense the sarcasm). I started reading through the most recent entries and got stuck on my post from last spring with pictures of these little guys. Here they are again, stubbornly pushing through the hard earth to make me pause and catch my breath...spring is here and our Father is once again faithful. That made me realize that Easter Sunday is quickly approaching and I have not thought once about what that means. After reading that blog post, specifically the part about Peter of Cyrene, I couldn't help but draw a parallel to Haiti.

I know, I am passionate and talk so often about Haiti. I am once again traveling to Port-au-Prince this April. I am excited, nervous, scared, and at peace all at once! Haiti is my chance to carry the cross for Christ! In that post last spring I said that I hoped Peter of Cyrene cherished that horrible memory because he got to serve Jesus like no other human ever will. I cherish all my memories of Haiti, and all the pain, confusion, anger and life-upsetting that it has brought into my life. The person that stepped off that plane in October is not the same as the one who got on in the States. I have been changed. God has used Haiti to teach me so much of His character and also show me how real Satan is in the world today.

Satan doesn't work just by huge, glaringly evil things, but also by the act of a person doing nothing. The suffering in Haiti has been extreme since it's start, but the world had to have an earthquake demolish what little the Haitian people had for us to be called to action. Is this the world that our Father created? One where His children are not all living in Eden? It isn't, but it is the world that He loves so much that He sacrificed His only Son to provide us all a way to Him. He died for us all, so why is there so much injustice? Why do my beautiful, healthy children sleep in comfortable beds, in a more than adequate home, and never cry from hunger? God has blessed me and my family. My husband and I are humbled by what He has provided for us. I constantly ask myself why I was born in the US and not in a place like Haiti?

I have no answers other than His ways are not mine. I would never want to give up one of my children to save others who are selfish, sinful, and not guaranteed to even acknowledge my sacrifice. His ways are not mine! I would rather stay snug and safe at home thinking only about my broken washing machine and what plans I have for the weekend, but I am going to Haiti in April because God has called me there. His ways are not mine! I live the American dream. I have the wonderful marriage to a man that loves me. I have two beautiful, healthy children. I live in a home that is all I could ask for and more. I worship my God with no fear of persecution. I have no question where my next meal will come from, or any meals in the future for that matter. Yet, God has wound the people of Haiti into my DNA. Every time I set food in front of my children, I see the children I held that were nothing but a skeleton with brittle flesh laid over it. Every time I leave my house in my car and just worry about traffic, I think of staying at a house that requires a guard on the gate every hour of the day. Every time I vote, or watch the television and can choose what I see, I think of those in Haiti who have no voice. His ways are not mine...but even without being able to understand them, I can follow the movements of the Holy Spirit in my heart. I can be a voice for those who would never be heard by you if it wasn't for you suffering your way through this really LONG post! Please pray daily for all those who suffer injustice and oppression within our boarders and throughout the globe. They are your brothers and sisters in Christ! Jesus came here for their salvation as well as ours. He is RISEN!!!!!!!!

The Kiddos

These are the impromptu photo shoot pics from this morning after church. The weather was gorgeous, the kids were happy, and my lovely husband was so excited to help me get these over with. These are Michael's one year photos (so he's 15 months, close enough), and Natalie's 3 year photos. I can't believe how big they are getting. Michael is a walking machine, not a very coordinated one, but it's walking none the less. Natalie is her usual happy, crazy, feisty self.

Blame Julie

Ok, so I never post anymore (not that I was ever regular about it anyway!). But Julie forced me to sign up for facebook and now I am always updating my status on that time-sucker. All is well at the Telman's. Kids are happy and healthy. Parents just want more sleep, but are still happy. The pictures are off our deck last night after a day of crazy weather. Ryan and the neighbor Dave told me to email to the news channels and would you believe it? Peter Chan showed them on the 10:00 news last night. My sister Amy called me and I didn't even know they had shown them. They were watching the weather and thought it was crazy that my name and a picture of my backyard was on their TV!

New Life

Those pictures right there are what spring means to me. I wait impatiently for them. I don't rely on a ground hog to tell me when spring will arrive. And when I finally see them, I have to catch my breath, then release it in a whispered praise. Those tender little crocus shoots start poking out while there is still snow on the ground. By all rights, the ground should still be dead. But there they are, showing me that God has fulfilled His promise once again. The seasons have changed by His command and He is bringing new life after a season of cold. I have seen many amazing things in nature; the Grand Canyon, Pikes Peak, and clear blue oceans with white sandy beaches to name a few. But none of them speak as loudly to me of my Creator than that little tiny flower.

As many of you know, my family has been going through a season of winter. It has been a long hard past year and a half. Mostly, everything has been resolved and we praise God for providing us with His comfort and care. (Just an update, Michael saw the cardiologist today and his periodic blue hands, feet, and lips are OK for him and will require no further testing or treatment!). For those of you who have been so faithful to us, know that we saw Jesus in each of you. We are ready to be done with our "winter" and have been watching and waiting impatiently for the "spring". And then I realized, it is already here. It was buried just beneath the snow like the crocus shoot. Our spirits weren't dead, they were just tired. But He never gives us more than we can handle with His grace. What an awesome thing to know (let me repeat that, what an awesome thing to KNOW). I know that my God will provide. No matter what they are saying on Fox News, or CNN, His grace is sufficient. I know my God is unchanging, and all the beautiful truths that I have already seen will be the same tomorrow as they were in the past, and as they were today!

I think a huge part of me is waiting for Easter. I have never had such a connection with this season. I have never felt it take root so deeply into my heart and my head. Jesus rose from the grave for me. He took on all my sins so that I could stand in front of the Father. He loves me that much. I don't have to do anything to earn that love, it just is, and it doesn't change. And as much love as He has for me, he has for the next person. He took the time to create us , to "knit us together in our mother's womb", and He is a God of detail. He knows us from our skin cells down to the very dark places in our hearts that we don't want anyone to see. And yet, I am created in His image! Jesus covered me so that when the Father looks at me He sees all the wonderful and beautiful reflections of His Son. And then He sees all the wonderful and beautiful things that He created in ME!

I know this is getting long (or got there a long time ago), but one last thought. Upon reading through the story of the betrayal, trial, crucifixion, and Resurrection a thought struck me. How grateful must Simon of Cyrene have been. He had the privilege of carrying the cross for Jesus. I know that thought sounds odd, but stick with me. Jesus had to fulfill scripture. He had to go through the horrors of that day. Simon got to take on just a little of that pain for Jesus. He got to physically serve Jesus as no other human ever has.Would you want to carry the cross for Jesus? Or would you rather stay in the crowd? I wonder if Simon knew that Jesus was the Son of God, or if he thought Jesus was just a criminal going to the cross. I hope he knew. I hope he treasured that horrible memory because it was his brush with the divine. I know there are a million ways to serve Jesus, but Simon of Cyrene's experience touched my heart this year. What does Easter and spring mean to you?

Merry Christmas!

Another Christmas has passed us by. Natalie could really get into it this year and that made it so fun. We went to Grand Haven and spent Christmas Eve with Ryan's sister Heather and her in-laws the Hoexums after attempting to go to our Christmas Eve service at church. We pretty much sat in the back and continually fed the kids snacks. Christmas morning was so fun opening presents in our jammies. Natalie had a blast and loved her pat pat Rocket from the Little Einsteins. Michael loved to eat the paper. Maybe we'll see a little more excitement from him next year! My parents came for brunch and we played with the kids and watched classics like "The Christmas Story", "Elf" and "The Polar Express". So maybe the first two aren't really classics, but we love to watch them every year. I guess that makes them Telman classics. After a nap in the afternoon Roo had her first experience decorating Christmas cookies. She had so much fun. He method was to get as much sugar as possible on each cookie and then clean up by licking every inch of her hands. Needless to say, Natalie has her own special plate of cookies, the rest of us have our own! She still is singing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus every time she sees Christmas decorations. I think she'll be really bummed when all the lights are gone.

It's Exhausting Being This Cute

When you smile and laugh and are generally a happy little guy, you've got to get your rest when you can.

Merry Christmas, and a Happy New ZZZZZZZ

Well Hello everyone. What a Fall and early Winter we have had at the Telman household. Since my last post Michael was dedicated at Front Line. Natalie developed a weird knee infection and didn't walk for like four days (we got to spend a lovely day at Butterworth's Radiology department). That is all resolved and she has no problems running around like the little mad woman that she is. I found a lump, and had surgery to have it removed last Friday. The surgeon is confident it is not cancer (praise God!). My Grandmother (my Mom's Mom) passed away at the age of 89. She was a strong Christian woman and is in heaven with Grandpa and Jesus (also a praise God! even in our sadness). Then to top it all off I was having some issues with some muscle twitching. Two neurologists, an MRI, an MRA, an EEG, and two sleep studies later I just got the phone call and I am officially a Narcoleptic. Honestly, I think it is kind of funny. The sleep specialist thinks I have probably been developing symptoms for the past 15 years but the pregnancies pushed it into the full-blown disease. I start medication tomorrow and have been told it is a miracle drug. He told me it will be life changing! So there you have it.

Natalie and Michael continue to be a joy and amaze me every day. Ryan and I are doing well and can't wait for our Christmas with the two little ones. There is something about small children at Christmas that makes the Christmas spirit fill our house! In an effort not to focus on the commercial side of things we told Natalie that Christmas was Jesus' birthday. Now, every time she sees Christmas lights she yells "Christmas, Jesus' birthday!" and quite often follows it with a 2 year old's version of "Happy Birthday", she's so darn cute. Michael is sitting and getting on all fours and rocking. He is working on cutting his eighth tooth and is an eating (and pooping) machine, watch out! He still is just a little thing, I can't wait for his 9 month appointment in early January to see where he falls! Merry Christmas everybody.

All About Michael

I had to catch a few pictures of my little man in his crib. He'll be six months here soon and is growing like crazy (well, at least by his standards!). As you can see in one of the pictures he is the proud owner of two bottom teeth! He is rolling over and "talking" all the time, quite loudly. He loves to eat applesauce and peaches mixed with cereal. His favorite song is "You Are My Sunshine", which could not be more fitting. He is smiles and laughs about 90% of the time. It is so amazing to see the differences between my two children. I didn't think I could love any other as much as I love my Roo, but I do. He's completely different, yet my heart somehow made room, or grew! Well, enough gushing.

A Rainy Saturday

Roo turns 2!

Labor Day at the Lake

Natalie pouting because I told her "no", I see this face about 50 times a day

Always on the move

Aren't we Pretty?

"You gotta mash it up real good!"

What a rainy day! I'm not complaining, I was getting sick of seeing everything so brown. So, I thought why not update the blog? That and Jessica asked me to a couple times! I'll give you a quick summary of our summer since the last update, the pictures kind of go in order. At the end of July, Ryan and I celebrated our 4th anniversary and 5 days later Roo celebrated her 2nd birthday! She had a ton of fun and even learned to sing "Happy Birthday" (one of the cutest things I have ever seen the girl do, I'll have to try and get it on video). We went up to the Leja cottage on Lake Michigan for Labor Day and the weather was fantastic. I think Ryan and Natalie were at the beach for 3 hours straight! We also have had someone sick in our house for about the past month, we just keep taking turns. Except the kids, they both got sick and once and I felt very torn, it was the first time Natalie has showed any sibling rivalry with her brother.

The last of the pictures are from the Children's Museum today. We had never been there so Ryan came up with the idea to give it a try. We went with Brooke, Charlie and Addie (our last outing sans a newborn, Brooke is the cutest way-pregnant girl ever!). The girl's had a blast and went crazy for about an hour and a half. Then Natalie crashed and was asking to go home. Other than that we are happy and all healthy at the same time here. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention I turned 30 (I have to practice saying that, I've been saying I'm 22 for so long!). Ryan surprised me with flowers, a Tom-Tom for my car and a charm for my bracelet and then dinner at San Chez with friends. It was perfect!

Falling Off the Wagon

Okay, I haven't updated in a while out of embarrassment. My weight loss journey has taken a break. I lost some weight in the beginning, but since then I have just stayed the same. There are a lot of excuses (camping, going back to work, etc) but they don't really matter. So, I'm climbing back on that metaphorical wagon. I joined Weight Watchers on line today. It worked for me in college when I had about the same amount of weight to lose, so here's to what works! Thank you everyone again for all your support, and I'm still going to make those goals and get those pledges! Hey, no one ever did sign up to shave their head or do anything crazy like that, you still could. Here's some new pics too (camping and Natalie's 2 year), I know most of you just check this site for that anyway :)

"Mom, you're so funny!"

Just thought I'd share a captured moment with you. He is still such a good baby. All smiles and cuddles (most of the time!). He has the sweetest little baby coo right now. His sister's favorite word is "no" right now. He'll be there in such a short time.

Roo Hangin' With Her Home Boyz

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Natalie was loving that long stretch of nice weather. She digs her new swing set and the neighbors sand box! The neighbor boys love the swing set too so there is never any shortage of friends to play with. Michael is growing like a weed. It's all in length and none in any chubbiness so people are still always saying he is "so tiny". I think he's perfect. I might have Mommy goggles on but he seems fine to me. He now tips the scales at 10 pounds! Speaking of scales, I'm down 10 pounds, maybe he just picks up what I drop!

Okay, I thought these pics would load differently. Just crank your head to the side and pretend I did it right. Our friend Jessica was in town last week and we took Michael to Naked Plates to make the pieces above. She did one of Natalie when she was a newborn and now we have a matching set! She does such an amazing job. The ornaments are presents for the grandparents. They'll have to act surprised!