Sweet Life in the City

Isaiah 9:6 "A child has been born to us; God has given a son to us. He will be responsible for leading the people. His name will be Wonderful Counselor, Powerful God, Father Who Lives Forever, Prince of Peace." A few weeks ago during the election this verse came to my mind and it made me smile. It does not matter who is sitting in the White House (whether it is the person you voted for or not) there is only ONE who sits on the Throne and there is only ONE who is sovereign and in control. There is only ONE that should be leading us. I absolutely love this verse from scripture and it seems I only think about it around Christmas time. Yes it was at Christmas that the Son was given, but it is still true today that he is our Wonderful Counselor, Powerful God, Father who lives forever, and our Prince of Peace! As I reflect over these descriptions of Jesus I cannot help but think that these four descriptions are exactly what He has been for me this year and even this week. No matter...

2 Corinthians 12:8-9 I begged the Lord three times to take this problem away from me.  9 But he said to me, “My grace is enough for you. When you are weak, my power is made perfect in you.” So I am very happy to brag about my weaknesses. Then Christ’s power can live in me. This is the verse I have been focusing on the past few days and I will get back to that in a minute. First a run down of our Thanksgiving. We actually has school all day on Wednesday! Can you believe that? :) We came home after school to get our things and Lucy and we actually decided to wait for a few hours before heading out of the city because we knew traffic would be terrible. We left the house around 6:30 and started to make the 60 mile drive to my parent's house. We hit a little traffic but it was not nearly as bad as we anticipated. The lights of the city were breathtaking. I just stared out the window amazed by the beauty of the city at night. We got to my parent's house and we ate and just visited wi...

Every time I come home I cannot help but notice the changes my mom has made to her house. This time there was new Thanksgiving decorations, new shower curtain, and even a new coat of paint in the laundry room and half bathroom. I cannot help but notice how things are different from when I actually lived here. The truth is there is not much the same since I lived here. There are a few pieces of furniture and a few pictures, but that is about all. Thursday afternoon my mom and I were in the room that used to be my brother's and then became my sister's and is now the office:) looking on the computer for the different online sales. The air mattress was set up because Chloe had been sleeping on it, so I was laying on the air mattress and I looked up and realized that there was something in my childhood home that has been there as long as I can remember. It is something that you see when you are coming out of the bathroom and see it going or leaving any of the three bedrooms. It actu...

Happy Birthday to my sister tomorrow! Sisters is probably the most competitive relationship within the family, but once the sisters are grown, it becomes the strongest relationship.  ~Margaret Mead I am convinced that nobody knows me like my sister. All childhood memories and adult dreams involve her in them. She not only shares the experiences of childhood, but she knows the secret feelings and emotions that are wrapped around those experiences. She has known me through every awkward stage in my life and holds the deepest secrets shared late at night when everyone else had gone to sleep. I like the quote I posted at the beginning because I have to say there were times in our childhood that I do not think you would consider us friends and I am pretty sure there were days my mom was not sure which one of us would make it out alive. I distinctly remember getting so mad at her one time that while she was turned around getting something out of the dresser I ran and jumped on her back and d...

I know it has been a few days since I blogged, but we have been really worn out taking care of three sick kids! Chloe and Emma started to feel better Wednesday afternoon but then Emma's fever had spiked again by bedtime. Jeremy checked his last paycheck and saw that he had some sick time accrued and could take off. Early Thursday morning Samuel woke up and came into our room and he was now running a fever! Chloe and I went to school and the other three stayed home. They still have a terrible cough but they seem to be feeling much better. I think Emma is the one that still is fighting with this cold the most. She goes back and forth with a low-grade fever.  On Friday we ALL returned to school. Friday night my parents and my brother came to our house to celebrate Emma's birthday. My parents stayed the night and we all went to the circus! It was at the United Center and it was really fun despite the fact that it was in a building and not under a tent (do they even have circus unde...

We had a good weekend. Sunday we went to church and then tried out a new restaurant. It is called Sabor a Cafe. It is a Columbian steak house and it is a little place in walking distance from our house. It was really, really good. The kids ordered from the kid's meal and the chicken they ordered came with "special spice sauce" but when it their meals came it was only ketchup. Jeremy made a comment to me about they probably did not give them the sauce because we were white:) I thought he said because "they" (the kids were white) and I agreed with him. It hit me that when I thought he said the kids were white that I totally forget sometimes that they are Asian! After lunch we came home and took a nap. We then watched the Bears game. Chloe woke up Sunday morning with a fever but it did not last long so we still got her out. Sunday night the fever returned and she was just pitiful. I slept with her Sunday night in case she had a rough night. Monday we all stayed hom...

Today I am thankful for my smart, loving, helpful, funny little girl Emma Byul. Today my baby girl is 6 years old and I cannot believe it! I still picture my fuzzy haired little girl that I thought I would never hold in my arms. The waiting for Emma to come home was torture for me. Those who lived through that waiting with me know the struggles we faced trying to get her home and I guess it can be compared to childbirth pains and it is all worth it in the end. Emma is one of the smartest and funniest kids I know. She remembers everything!! (So be careful what you say around her:) The other night she was telling us the differences in the letters from TN and Chicago, such as "A" is for apple ect. She remembered every letter and picture that went with it and she knew the ones in her new school even though they have not covered all the letters yet. You can read a book to her and she can read most of the words by herself the next time. She loves to learn and Spanish is her favorit...