Peace

I'm sitting by the glow of the Christmas tree and all is quiet. This is my favorite time of the night. I smell like clean baby, since I just gave Tenley a bath. She is sleeping peacefully in bed and I can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that she will be sleeping for the next 7ish hours (we hope anyway..we still have some bad nights). I have time to pick up and get ready for the next day, but also to just sit and relax with Mike.

Like every Sunday, I was reminded again today of how happy I am to be back home. We miss our friends in Merrillville, but sitting in church this morning is a great reminder of how "at home" we feel. We're both trying to get back involved in the church and take advantage of all the opportunities there. I've started a grace-based parenting class on Wednesday nights that I think I'm really going to enjoy. Last week the main idea was talking about how we need to meet our kids right where they are at emotionally. In jr. high for example, Tenley is bound to come home crying some day about one thing or another that we really see as trivial. But we can't just tell her that she will face harder things in life. We have to support her and tell her that we're sorry she's going through this or that. And help her through it, because in her life at that age, it's a big deal. She won't want to come to us if we let her think that her issues aren't important. I've been learning alot just in one week and I'm thankful for all the other parents in there that are more seasoned than Mike and I. I learn alot from their experiences and it's nice to know that even now, they still have questions and make mistakes.

Remember too, that tomorrow Baby VanTornhaut will make his/her debut into our family! Katie and Craig are in Chicago now. They will check into the hospital tomorrow morning and Katie is scheduled to have a c-section. Please pray for the doctors, our family, Katie, Craig, and Cole. We know Callie will be looking down on them smiling as they welcome her brother or sister into the world.