Trick or Treat

The Kids:

The Loot:

The Quotes:

Analia (to the homeowner of a house with scary decorations and music): Your stuff kind of scares us. That one right there, it's not good. We don't like that kind of stuff.

Noah (looking at a house with no lights on): I don't think this house will work for us.

Karissa (after receiving a big handful of candy): Tay too! (translation: Thank you!)

Autumn

I was talking to one of my former small group members and she mentioned that she dislikes the fall season. I was surprised--fall is my favorite season. "Why?" I asked her. "Because, it gets all stressful and everything starts dying. It's totally depressing."

So I shared a secret that I've recently learned about fall. Did you know that all the beautiful colors that the leaves are now showing are the trees' true colors? Yes, some trees are in their very nature, red, and yellow, and orange, and burgundy, and gold! In the spring and summer, their gorgeous colors are covered up by their food, the green chlorophyll. It's only in the fall that we get to see them in their true glory and splendor.

And even though the trees losing their chorophyll means that the leaves are dying, that isn't totally depressing to me. It's kind of exciting actually. Because everything has to die before it can be made new.

More Lessons From Parenthood

I was in our bedroom when I heard the shriek. Then came the sobs and the muffled soothing from Geary. "What happened?!?" My eyes were wide as I entered the living room and saw Geary holding Noah against his chest, his hand covering the back of his head. Noah's cries were interrupted with big gulps of air.

"He was climbing on my legs and he fell off. His head hit the chair, " Geary answered. He pulled his hand away from Noah's head and I saw the pool of blood cupped in his palm.

Tears sprang to my eyes as my heart fell into the churning acids of stomach. My thoughts raced, "What if he needs stitches? My baby! What should we do? Check his eyes! Does he have a concussion? What am I even supposed to see in the eyes if he does have a concussion? What do we DO??"

I looked into the eyes of my firstborn son, searching for anything unusual. They were squinched together but when I touched his tear streaked face he opened them and I saw in one instant the intense pain and fear. A wave a fresh tears flowed from my own eyes.

"God, what do I DO?" my brain screamed. Struggling to see through the blurry tears, I put some ice in a baggy and wrapped the bundle in a dish towel. As I left the kitchen, I also grabbed the paper towel roll.

My husband, strong and quiet, with bloody hands, continued to comfort my son. I handed him the ice pack and paper towels he handed me strength and courage. Calmed by his calmness, I rummaged in the medicine drawer for children's aspirin and then filled a water bottle with a straw for Noah.

His sobs quieted and he was able to chew the aspirin and take some sips of water. And we sat in silence. Waiting...waiting...waiting for the blood to stop.

Geary changed out the paper towels, each one showing less red than the one before. Finally, I could see the actual cut. So tiny, the size of a pinhole. We would not need stitches today.

Noah whispered, "I bumped my head." Even as my heart ached, I was able to tell him about one of his heroes, "When Uncle Jared was a little boy, he bumped his head a LOT!" My son giggled.

In a few hours, with hair still matted with blood and tears, my son was jumping and climbing. His bumped head was forgotten and he leaned back precariously in his chair eliciting a warning from Daddy.

Geary said, "I think he's feeling better." I said, "Noah, you have no idea what a thick rope you have attached to my heart."

How could I have known that powerful love before becoming a parent? If my son, with his pin-prick cut on his head, could bring tears of pain to my eyes, how did Mary feel when her firstborn was nailed to the cross? And even greater, how many tears did God shed for his only son, bearing the greatest pain and all the sins of the world? I cannot imagine the anguish. And if my son, having a common accident, could so wrench my heart when I saw his pain, how much agony does God feel when he sees my pain? How thick is the rope connecting me to his heart?

Harvest Party

Our church held it's annual Harvest Party on Friday night. Noah went as Buzz Lightyear and had a really fun time. He made some crafts, including the mask shown above, and played a few games. But his favorite activity was the giant bouncy castle with a slide. My favorite quote from the evening:

Teacher: Hi Noah! Did you get lots of candy?
Noah: Yeah! I got FOUR pieces!

Lessons From Parenthood

Noah: What's my mom's name?
Jeana: Your mom is me. Jeana.
Noah: Who's your mom?
Jeana: Granny is my mom.
Noah: Her name is Peggy. Who's Daddy's mom?
Jeana: Grandma.
Noah: You mean Garyanna?
Jeana: Yep.
Noah: Who's Garyanna's mom?
Jeana: Tracy.
Noah: Who's Tracy?
Jeana: She's Garyanna's mom. You haven't met her. She died.
Noah: She's dead? When can I meet her?
Jeana: I guess when you go to heaven.
Noah: But what about before that? Can she come to the farm for Christmas?
Jeana: No. When people are dead that means they can't come back and visit us.
Noah: Jesus came back.
Jeana: That's right. But Jesus is the only one who can make people come back from the dead.
Noah (looking thoughtful): It's not nice if people can't come back. It feels bad.
Jeana: Yeah. It's okay to miss people we love when they're dead.
Noah: If we tell people we want to make them dead then that's saying we don't want them to come back. And that's not nice. It will hurt their feelings.
Jeana: You're right.
Noah: Is that why you don't like it when kids say, "I'm gonna kill you?"
Jeana: That's exactly right. I don't like it when anybody says, "I'm gonna kill you." Even grown-ups.
Noah: Maybe we can say, "I'm gonna make you alive!" And make their feelings feel good. And we can hug 'em and share our toys. And it makes my feelings feel good when you pray for me.

Craftastic

Noah's preschool class went to a farm for their first fieldtrip and each student got to choose their own pumpkin. Most of Noah's friends beelined to the first pumpkin they saw and gave it to their group leader to carry. Noah picked up about seven pumpkins and examined them thoroughly before setting each one back down and declaring it, "Not the one." Finally, he chose this pumpkin and decorated it with metalic markers.

Yesterday at preschool, the kids made egg carton spiders. Noah decided that his pumpkin would be the perfect home for his spider.

It's been interesting to notice how specific he is about certain things. Most of his coloring pages have a couple of colors randomly scribbled on them. But if there is a cutting or glue project, Noah is amazingly detailed. Even with the spider, he made sure that legs were bent at just the right angle.

16 Weeks

I had my 16 week OB appointment today and everything is going great! I got to hear the heartbeat again (150 bpm this time) and my doctor said everything looks and feels perfect! I feel such a sense of relief at each appointment--as if this gift has been given to me all over again!

I also got the paperwork to schedule my next ultrasound in about 2-3 weeks!

A few tidbits about the baby's development. Baby is about as wide as my palm (4 inches) and is around 6 inches long (that's about the length of our cereal spoons). She (or he) weighs about 4 ounces (just about as much as new bar of soap). Brown fat (the special fat that aids in body heat) is being deposited and in the next few weeks she'll be able to move her eyes from side to side!

Thank you for continuing to pray for us! Your prayers and support and love are keeping us filled with joy, peace, and hope.

You mean yesterday?

"Okay, I'm gonna tell you a story now. Once upon a time, back when I was a little kid..."
--Noah James Linhart, age 3 and 5/6

Moot

Last Saturday, our family was eating lunch in the Food Court of Factoria Mall. Geary went to get some napkins and Noah grabbed the bottle cap from a bottle of rootbeer and said, "Hey, Mom! Wanna play Moot?" Suddenly, I saw my son as a 5th grader explaining the rules of some school cafeteria table game he had invented. This precocious almost 4 year old turned 10 before my eyes and I realized again how quickly they grow up.

"Sure," I replied, "How do you play Moot?" Noah gave me the grin of a 4 year old 5th grader and flicked the bottle cap toward me. "Moot!" he exclaimed in a silly high pitched voice. And just as suddenly, he was back. My giggling almost 4 year old whispered, "I won!" But my heart said, "No, son. I won. I won when God gave me his beloved prize--you."

Andrew the Prophet

Last night, Noah's friend Andrew spent the night. On the way to our house we had this conversation.

Noah: My mom has a baby in her tummy.
Andrew: I know. I'm gonna marry it.
Jeana: Really?
Andrew: Yep. But not for a long time. Not until I'm 24.
Jeana: Oh, yeah. After you finish college.
Andrew. Yeah. There's only one thing I'm worried about, though..
Jeana: What's that?
Andrew: I don't know who my teacher will be in college. Maybe Geary?

The Name Game

A long time ago we must have signed up for some service which sold our name and address to a million junk mail companies. And those million junk mail companies must have had our name dictacted to them because it is almost never spelled correctly. Some common misspellings include:

Lindhart
Linehart
Lindehart
Linheart
Lionheart

Today, we received a windshield repair coupon for Mr. and Mrs. Loinhurt.

Happy Birthday, Geary!

The Quotable Noah James

Teacher: I had a fun day with you Mister Noah!
Noah: I'm not a Mister! I don't have a mustache!

________________________________

Noah: When the baby is born I'm gonna share with her.
Geary: That's great! What kind of things are you gonna share with the baby?
Noah: Um...I'm gonna share Lili's birthday presents with the baby!

The Power of Logo

In the midst of moisterizing my hands and feet and I absentmindedly put a dot on the back of my hand surrounded by a thin circle of lotion.

Noah: (gasp!) Mom! What are you doing?!?
Jeana: Huh?
Noah: Look what you did!
Jeana: Noah, it's just lotion. Do you want some?
Noah: No! Mom! You have Target on your hand!!!

Updates

On Wednesday morning, my friend Megan and I flew to Chicago to attend a Small Group Leaders Conference at Willow Creek. It was a really good time and I feel like I got a lot out of it. Our college ministry is now in full swing and I'm really excited about my new role. Instead of leading a small group I'm going to be coaching the leaders of the college small groups!

While we were there we got to go into downtown Chicago and see the musical Wicked! It was fantastic!

Noah spent the week at my parents house and can't stop talking about all the fun things he did with Granny, Grandpa, and Uncle Jared. I'm pretty sure he thought it was kid heaven.

Geary stayed home and worked and simply appreciated the quiet time.

So, in short, we are all alive and kicking (Including the baby--I can feel little flutterings!!). Normal posts will resume this week.