THE NICHOLS FAMILY


Saturday, June 14, 2008

A Sprinkle, A Splash and A Power Lab

A Sprinkle: Last Sunday we traveled to Columbus for our niece Kate's christening. Of course it was the sweetest thing. Kate just smiled at the preacher the whole time as he sprinkled her head and carried her around the sanctuary. Then she fell asleep in Shannon's arms for the rest of the service. Can you say perfect child? My child on the other hand made it through the christening but not without saying "cracker, cracker" the whole time. We were offering the crackers in order to keep her quiet. No such luck but at least she was being sweet. Then daddy took her out for the rest of the service.

It all went really well and my favorite part is that it was Kate's turn to wear the family christening gown. This is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen I think. Shay's Meme made it almost 40 years ago for her all her grandchildren to wear for their christenings and dedications. It has the most gorgeous hand work and the bonnet that matches is amazing. And it is not just a dress but a slip that is just as intricate and beautiful to match. I'm such a sucker for meaningful family heirlooms and I think this is the best heirloom in the world. How sweet is it that not only all of her grandchildren wore the gown that it took her years to make but now all of her great grandchildren that never had the chance to know her have worn it and shared in this little piece of her. I think it is so special. Well I couldn't get the picture of Mary Selwyn to post so you can't see the whole dress but trust me it is beautiful.

A Splash: On Tuesday my friend Amber and her sweet little boy Price came to visit. Price and Mary Selwyn had so much fun playing together, pushing each other around and holding hands and sucking their toes in their car seats. However, I believe that highlight of the visit for the kids was our trip to Water World. Wednesday morning we took the kids to the small water park here in Dothan and they had a blast. Price wore Amber out going up and down the elephant slide over and over. He has no fear when it comes to the water which was a little scary for us. Mary Selwyn had more fun in the water than ever before. She played and splashed and slid on the little turtle slide with the biggest smile on her face. She was so sweet and we had a blast. They had so much fun that they were both asleep before we got out of the parking lot. It was a great visit.

I love to watch Mary Selwyn interact with my friend's children. I think it is so neat to see the next generation of us playing and enjoying each other. I can remember daydreaming with my friends and roommates about the days when we would all have families of our own and the play dates and family vacations we would plan. I cannot believe those days are actually here. I was watching Price and Mary Selwyn play and thinking to myself "I can't believe Amber and I are sitting here with our kids! Seems like yesterday we were on choir tour or moving into our apartment in Auburn." It is crazy to me but I'm so thankful I have sweet friends to share these moments with also. I look forward to our children growing up and sharing fun moments together. I realize they may not grow up to be the best friends that we had daydreamed them to be but they will always be a part of each other's lives and that is so neat to me.


A Power Lab: This week was Vacation Bible School at First Baptist. The theme for the week was God's power. It was all about experiments and what God gives us the power to do. I had the privilege of helping my friend Lindsey with the first grade class. Let me start by saying that I have a whole new respect for mothers and teachers of first grade children. I'm trying to prepare myself for the day that I will have a first grader of my own. The week started out a little rough. They were just learning the ropes of VBS and they were wild balls of energy. I must say I am severly dissapointed in the lack of imagination of those kids. My imagination is 100 times better than their's. I guess times have really changed. As the week progressed they calmed down and it was enjoyable for all of us. In all seriousness they were really sweet and loving kids. Turns out they really were listening and learning the whole time and I think they overall had a fun week. My prayer is that we were able to touch their lives in some small way.

We had four kids in our class that raised their hands during a prayer to say they wanted to know more about Jesus. It was so sweet to see them have a genuine interest in Christ. It is really all you can hope for. We made sure that their parents knew and those kids whose parents we didn't know we had a minister talk to. When our pastor asked one of the kids if he had asked Jesus to come into his heart his response was, "I don't know if I did, I just know that I want to know more and more about Him." Is that not the sweetest thing you have ever heard. It gave me chills. It had been years since I had participated in VBS and I'm thankful that I had the opportunity to help this year. It made me realize how important it is to be praying daily that one day Mary Selwyn will want to know more and more about Jesus. I am in no hurry for her to grow up but I absolutely cannot wait for the day that she accepts and acknowledges Christ as her savior! I long for her to experience it and I pray that she will be lucky enough to do so at a young age. Turns out the Power Lab taught me a lot too! God is so good.

I'm having issues posting pictures again so I will add them as soon as it will allow me!

3 comments:

Lindsey said...

Yay for this post! I will have to do my VBS one soon. And I'm so glad you got the pictures to come up.

kristen said...

I'm so glad I got to meet you at VBS. It was alot of fun! And I love the story about the Christening gown. That is incredible that it is 40 years old. How special!

Ann-Marie said...

I love the moo-moo car seat. That's a crack-up! And the babies sleeping in the seats are too cute. I love tuckered-out days. It means mommy gets a long break, too!