Train up a Child

Life in Grand Rapids has been crazy in the past few weeks.  We had record low temperatures on January 22, where readings came all the way down to -2 degrees with even colder wind-chills.  The temperature on the 22nd in Grand Rapids was actually colder than it was in Galena, Alaska, where my sister-in-law, Simone, lives!  Then, just seven days later, on the 29th of the month, we reached a record high temperature of 58 degrees!  Now, if that isn't kinda strange, then I don't know what is!  During that week, we went from having several inches of snow on the ground, to getting rain, freezing rain, and everything in between.  Now, we currently have somewhere between 1 and 1 1/2 feet of snow on the ground.  Yes, living in Western Michigan is an adventure in itself!  There are some perks, though, to living in Grand Rapids.  I learned today that our Grand city hit #1 on the list of "Best cities to raise a Family"!  Pretty cool! 

Other than the weather being crazy, life has been going very well here at the Yousef house.  At the end of December, Jonas has a rough case of RSV.  He was on some harsh medicine that changed his eating habits and his overall disposition.  We are finally back to 'normal Jonas' now, and it is so nice to see my sweet boy acting like himself again!  I know I have said this in my past few posts, but Jonas really loves his little sister!  I am so excited for when she is old enough to 'play' with him, and I think he is too! 

This morning, he was munching on some Lucky Charms cereal while I was feeding the baby.  He always gets really interested in what I am doing when I feed the baby, so he came over and stood next to us for a bit.  After she was done nursing, I sat her up to burp her, and Jonas tried to share one of his lucky charms with her!  It was so precious that it almost made me cry!  I know that it is inevitable that Jonas and Joelle will fight with each other at some point in their lives, but I want so badly for them to be the best of friends!  I want them to get along all of the time, but I also understand that we live in a sinful world and that is not possible.  I hope and pray that as they grow up together, they will love each other and get along as best they can. 

Joelle is one month old now and is growing much to quickly!  I am afraid that I will blink and she will soon be rolling over and sitting up on her own.  Even though it is very tiring to get up during the night with her, I am trying to treasure those moments with her.  I know that all too soon she will be a big girl and not need me as much. 

My heart has been burdened lately with being a better example to our children, especially Jonas.  He is at that spongy stage of life where he absorbs everything that he sees and hears.  Even Steve has noticed that Jonas sounds just like me when he says "hi".  The intonation in my voice is what he copy-cats, making him sound like my twin!  Even more than just mimicking the way I talk, Jonas copies almost everything I do!  If I ever leave my phone too close to the edge of the desk, he will grab it and copy the way I walk around and talk on the phone!  I have been praying daily that God will give me the strength to be patient with our babies and to show them the love of God through the way I parent.  Those days that I am over tired and needing a break and just can't seem to get my attitude right tend to be the days that Jonas has the same problem.  My attitude throughout the day can make or break Jonas's attitude, so I have been praying and striving to set a Godly example for him, and for Joelle as well. 

Proverbs 22:6 says "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."  I think this verse is referring to more than just teaching our children to follow God, but to live godly lives and having a good attitude is part of that!  I pray that I will be able to teach our children to follow God and to live godly lives.  May this be your prayer for you and your children as well!

Since a blog post isn't the same without pictures, here are some for you to enjoy :)