Rockin' Some New Masks

Learning to Smile

Well, Eli's figured out how to smile for the camera:

I love how his nose wrinkles in that last one; he's trying so hard. I also love how he's in an orange t-shirt here. Eli's almost always in orange these days. It's his favorite color, but since both of his orange shirts happened to be short-sleeved and we've yet to hit "spring" around here, I find the need to do some creative layering while he's getting dressed.

I am so ready for spring. It seems like the daffodils in my yard have been about to bloom for weeks. The sun was peeking through the clouds this morning and I thought, "Finally! Today is the day!" But, the temperature has yet to get anywhere close to the predicted 60 degrees and the windy gusts have blown the gloomy clouds in once again. And it's not just the weather. There seems have been a lot of opportunities to get a little bit "down" over the last couple of weeks. Ugh. I'm just so ready for spring: a new season and some sunshine.

I've been challenged by the words throughout the Psalms during the last couple of weeks. Like these from Psalm 62:

"My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken."

Where is my rest? In God alone. Not the sunshine or warm weather. Where is my rescue? My salvation comes from him. Not in blooming daffodils or budding trees. God alone is my rock, my salvation, my fortress.

Perhaps, every so often, we need to relearn how to smile, or at least be reminded there may be another reason to. Eli first smiled when he passed gas 2 1/2 years ago, but now he's learning how to smile because someone expects it. I pray that I'm learning how to smile because it reflects the true joy within my heart.

Some "spring break" images: (I hope they make you smile!)

Sandcastles at the beach.

Spring hockey season.

Caterpillar to Butterfly

Bubbles, Oranges, and Bellies

We've officially made it halfway to our next big adventure. Baby Mulder is "half-baked" and due to be finished July 28, 2011. We're excited to meet you, little one!

Our Baby Can Read and Other Updates

I know I've become horribly negligent on posting pictures, so here's a few from the last several weeks. Looking through them, I can't believe how grown-up the boys are looking.

Brothers watching "t.b."

We've had a few big snowfalls lately. Poor Luke has a hard time getting around in all his snow gear and the deep snow... he much prefers to be carried by Dad.

At a Spirit hockey game with Grammy and Grandpa. The boys got to stay up waaaay past their bedtime. They really enjoyed watching the players skate and Eli was thrilled that he got to give the Spirit eagle mascot a high five. He kept trying to tell me about it the next day.

Luke watches some curling action out on the rink/pool.

Eli prefers to be up and moving around, here he is showing off some of his hockey skills. He loves the snow and ice!

Making some Valentine's cookies with Mom. All those play-doh cookie cutter skills come in handy when you've got a couple dozen cookies to cut out.

I think Luke thought he had the best part of the job. (He probably did.)

Eli's been using the "real" potty for about a week. He's still in diapers for nap and nighttime, but he's well on his way. These were specially selected underwear to be just like his big cousin, Tristan. We called Tristan before our big underwear shopping trip to get the scoop on the best kind of underwear for little boys. Apparently, Tristan--who was outside walking to the park at the time-- pulled down his own pants and checked his current underwear on the spot. He was wearing Lighting McQueen, so that's what Eli got.

Eli read his own bedtime story tonight. Enjoy!

First Letter

Isn't that a beautiful "E" from our Eli? (The red one, right on top of the purple one.) His first unprompted letter. Mama is so proud.

Missional Life

At church our pastor has been throwing around the words missional and transformation a lot lately. Our lives need to have a missional approach. Just doing more activities doesn't change who we are it takes transformation. Things I'm pretty sure I agree with so as I sit and listen to the sermons I give an inward thumbs-up and prepare myself for the next point. But, it turns out that they're not just smile-and-nod-along-with-what-he's-saying kind of words. These can be life changers.

As a small group, we've been meeting and muddling through what this could mean for who we are as a church and--perhaps even more critically--about what this could mean as individuals. What is my mission? How am I being transformed? What is my role and how is the Holy Spirit involved in changing the sinner I once was?

My first years of teaching (now almost 10 years ago) I remember making a deliberate effort to consider them a missionary experience. Although I wasn't overseas experiencing some of the challenges that come with engaging a completely different culture, I wanted to view my middle school teaching experience as a mission field. In order to do that, my teaching and vulnerability had to spill out of the classroom into the church I became involved in, the apartment building I shared with several of my students, and even the grocery shopping I did with most of their parents. These were, in my mind "mission years" and God taught me so much through them.

Today is no different.

A couple of weeks ago I started preparing the mission project for the elementary age children at our church. This semester we are getting to know a missionary family from Ethiopia. The Swarts have three children and live in a relatively remote area in Ethiopia. Their stories are inspiring. Please take a moment to watch this 3 minute video about their childrens' lives:

https://www.rca.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=6456

Did you watch it? The rest of this blog will make more sense if you did.

I've always idealized the life of a missionary. Let's face it. They are heroes. God has called them to an incredible job and they have answered Him and are living in the adventure of His promises. They're trusting God each day to do the "special job" God has called them to do among the people with whom God has called them to live. That is so cool.

And I get to do it too.

That's what a missional life is. It's right now, where I am, taking God up on the offer to participate in His work. It's the priveledge and the responsiblity of living each day in the adventure of His promises. Not because of who I am, but because of who He is transforming me to be... His image, His hands, His feet, His love.

So here is my statment for our family. I don't have pictures or a sleek video, but if you've been reading this blog you know what the images of our daily lives are like. Picture them as I borrow Joanna Swart's words about "Life as a Missionary Kid."

Life as a Missionary Kid: Eli and Luke Mulder

This is Eli, he's two years old.
This is Luke, he's one year old.

And we live in Midland, a city in Michigan by a big chemical company. We live there because God gave a special job to our family. We get to live with and help the people of Midland. They are our neighbors and our friends.

Our daddy works at the hospital. He gets to help sick people when they are hurting and scared.
Our mommy spends most of the day taking care of us. She also helps lead a Bible study that teaches women God's Word.

It is fun to live in Midland. There are lots of fun things to do.

We have warm weather in the summer and sometimes we get to go swimming in the pool in our backyard. In the winter it can be really cold outside, but that's okay because we love to play in the snow and ice.

One of our favorite things to do is go on walks. Sometimes we walk to the library where there are lots and lots of fun books for us to check out and read.

We get to eat lots of good food in Midland. In the summer we plant a garden, but we get most of our food from the grocery store that is just down the road. We are glad to live in a place where we can eat fresh fruits and vegetables all year round.

One of the best things about living in Midland is that our grandparents live here with us. They are here to love and serve the people of Midland too. We love to go to our Grammy and Grandpa's house by the river and it is fun to sled down the hill behind Grandma and Grandpa's.

On Sundays we go to church. Our church is in a big building that we can walk to in the summer time. We have lots of friends at church. Pastor Mike teaches us on Sunday mornings and our Oasis group friends meet with and encourage us every week. There is usually lots of good food and laughter as we work on learning about God together. You can help us by praying for our friends and our church.

Thanks for letting us tell you a little bit about our lives. We like living in Midland. We are glad that God has given this special job and place to our family. Don't forget to pray for us!