The Noll Family

Sara-Beth — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 04:32:32 +0000

These moments always surprise me when they come. Totally randomly and triggered by the most unexpected events.

These moments when I realize that our life in Japan is over – has been over for 8 months now – and I am hit with that reality and I grieve a little bit more for missing that sweet sweet season of our lives.

I always miss Japan, especially the people there. But in these moments I ache for it, wishing for a moment that we could be there still.

I love the life we have here and truly, we’ve experienced blessing upon blessing in this new place and stage. I don’t want to sound discontent. I just have these moments of remembering and missing our two years of living and growing and loving in Japan.

Tonight, my moment came as I wrapped things up in the house before I came to bed. I randomely remembered a comment from a friend earlier today about her mom (who lives here in town) dropping by. Next thing I know I was weeping and remembering how I loved having my mom close and dropping by on a regular basis.

I remembered how fun it was to decide at the last minute to do dinner together. She and I would pool our resources and end up with a yummy meal for the 9 of us (my parents, 3 siblings, and the 4 of us) squished around our tiny round kitchen table. And, I’ll be honest, family devotions after dinner were a lot more fun with all those extra voices for singing and laps to sit on and thoughts to share.

I remembered how my mom would often swing by on her way to or from school to pick up her kids, and would be greeted at my door by exuberant “Baba!”s every single time. In fact, she usually came to pick up her kids from my house as they often walked down after school for a quick visit and cuddles with their nieces. She and I had many a talk in my genkan (foyer) or tiny yard while her car was running in the street. Sometimes they were quick stop-ins, sometimes we’d jump in our cars – me to move mine into the tiny yard and her to move hers into our one parking space so that she could stay for a cup of tea and a longer chat.

I remember calling her anytime I had a household project to do in order to get her advice on how to do it, where to get the supplies, and, usually, an offer of her help with it. It was always so much more fun and easy to do it alongside her. And, lets be honest, the jobs were always done better too.

I remember how easy it was to call her whenever I wanted because we were in the same time zone and it was a local call.

I remember running into her randomely – usually at the school or church but sometime at the grocery store – and the delight it brought not only me, but my children too.

I remember coming home to a clean and quiet house after she would babysit for us. She was always either deeply engrossed in a book or study or a nap. I always wondered how she managed to get it all done when my days with the kids felt c.r.a.z.y.

I remember getting to sit by her in worship on Sundays or concert of prayer on Wednesdays and loving coming before our heavenly Father together as sisters in Christ, partners in ministry, companions in this journey of becoming more like Jesus. If you had told my rebellious teenage self that it would be this way one day, I would have laughed. God is so good.

And as these remembrances flooded my mind, I just had to sob for a few minutes and grieve the fact that those times with my my mom are over, at least for now. (I think I still grieve because life has been a little crazy since before and after we moved, so things still hit me that I haven’t thought through.) And in the midst of my tears I thank God for such a precious time. With parents on the mission field, I had never dreamed I would have the opportunity to live, as an adult, close to my parents and enjoy so many aspects of life with them. Those two years were a gift and I can’t help but thank the Giver.

And that’s really what I need to do always when I have these moments of missing, of aching, for our life there. I need to acknowledge the memories as what they are: testimonies of the Lord’s blessing and care. These moments of grieving are opportunities to thank and praise.

So. That’s what I’ll do next time when one of these meltdowns creeps up on me.

If you come to my house…

Sara-Beth — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 23:01:48 +0000

Knock on the door…

Wait a few seconds…

And, most likely, THIS is what you’ll see:

Wanna come over??

Thirty-one Eighteen Giveaway

Sara-Beth — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 20:44:07 +0000

My friend from college, Kim, is doing a giveaway on her website and I think you should check it out. Kim is an amazing seamstress. She made my diaper bag, which is just perfect for all the stuff I need to take with me with 3 little kids in tow. What makes her even more amazing is that she makes all these beautiful creations AND still is an amazing mom to her 2 sweet kids, both under 2! Go check out her shop, here!

Overheard at my house

Sara-Beth — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 15:37:45 +0000

The girls were busy at work loading things into their bags and shopping carts.

I asked, “Are you girls packing?”

Noa, “No, we’re going to Japan to buy a daddy.”

Me, “You’re gonna buy a daddy?”

Noa, “Yea, I’m gonna buy a daddy for my babies.”

Wow, I’m glad my baby daddy came free of charge and with lots of added bonuses!

Stripes and Strawberries

Sara-Beth — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 19:15:28 +0000

This little munchkin was 4 MONTHS OLD on Friday.

Did you know she wears another little strawberry that isn’t on her clothes?

Do you see it?

Sleep soundly, sweet girl, with smile on your face.

We love your perfect little self.

overheard at my house (x3)

Sara-Beth — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 15:28:28 +0000

Original Overheard:

Noa has always been quite good with her words and rarely has words that she doesn’t say correctly. However, one thing that she consistently says wrong that I absolutely LOVE is when she is communicating excitement.

“Are you be-cited, Martha?” or “I’m be-cited!”

and when her emotion is in the extreme form:

“I’m be-SO-cited!”

I hope she never learns how to say it properly. Just kidding. Kinda.

Added Bonus:

A few moments ago, all three girls were laying on the playing mat and interacting so sweetly with each other – well, Martha and Noa were vying for Gloria’s smiles but it was a friendly competition. All of sudden I hear, in a singsong voice,

“Martha, you grab her feet and I’ll get her hands… c’mon Glo… here we go”

and I look up to see them poised to drag her across the room to her bouncy where they want her to sit.

And we had yet another talk about how Noa is not big enough to carry the baby quite yet.

And one more for good measure:

Noa: “Mommy, when Gloria learns how to crawl, will you get another baby in your belly?”

This kid doesn’t miss much and I guess has figured out the general pattern of things around here

My biggest girl, BE-SO-CITED!

sunday fun

Sara-Beth — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 04:55:47 +0000

Sundays around here are the best. I love them because they are Eric’s only day off and he starts at 6pm Saturday and doesn’t study or work until 6pm Sunday. His day off also means my partial day off. He is so great about helping a ton with the kids and letting me get extra rest. It’s wonderful. He’s wonderful.

Last Sunday, instead of joining in the regular nap or reading (which I normally do), I decided to do a little crafting and see what I could come up with. I got my glue gun, some clips, lots of ribbon, a few buttons, and my laptop tuned to desiringgod.org to hear Piper’s newest biographical lecture. (Side note: he does one every year at the DG pastors conference and they are all wonderful. My favorite is Adoniram Judson. This year was C.S. Lewis and it was amazing as well. They are compiled in a series called “Men of Whom the World Was Not Worthy.” Check them out.)

Anyway, I made a big mess.

But I was pleased with the outcome:

It’s amazing how just a little something like this – using parts of my brain that I don’t normally have time to even tap – can be so refreshing. And I am not even a crafty person! For some reason, though, it was just delightful to me. A lovely Sunday afternoon…

My almost Daily Battle

Sara-Beth — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 15:49:36 +0000

Almost every day Noa and I get into some kind of battle over clothing. Sometimes – rarely - it is a battle of the wills: What she wants to wear vs. what I want her to wear. Other times it is a battle to change or not to change She tries to convince me that she has valid reasons to change her clothes – like they are dirty, wet, uncomfortable, etc. There were a few times that I wondered if she had purposely had a potty mishap just so she could change her clothes. Our most common battle is using her and Martha’s clothing like toys. She LOVES to take their clothes out of their drawers and “pack” them, put them on dolls, and layer them over her already worn clothes. This has become a discipline matter because, as I have explained to her, it is inconsiderate and unkind to undo the hard work her mother does in cleaning, folding, and putting away her clothes. Furthermore, clothes are a provision from God, and I want her to learn to be a good steward of them and take care of them.

So, these are the waters we are treading right now. It is a daily thing (because – you guessed it - we get dressed every day), and I am trying to work it so it is not a battle every day. I think we have some good ways of dealing with it, but we still have some obedience issues.

Like this morning. The girls headed into their room to play after breakfast. It was entirely too quiet and I could have predicted what I would see when I went in. Sure enough, there were several things on the floor and this is what the girls looked like:

She even got Martha dressed!

So now, after being disciplined for taking out clothes without asking, she has to stay in what she chose to wear all day. sigh.

I guess I am thankful for this outlet of creativity… I just want to know how to instruct her well with it, and be consistent too.

Here’s another exhibit of her clothing craftiness – again – on her sister:

In Martha’s words, isn’t she, “boooo- foh” ?

Sweet Sister Snuggles

Sara-Beth — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 18:33:06 +0000

Gloria usually goes back to sleep after her first feeding in the moring, and, depending on how early that is, she sometimes ends up just staying in my bed. By the time she reawakens, Noa and Martha and I have started our day. Her sisters are always delighted when they hear her stirring and run in to welcome her to the new day. I love these precious moments, and Gloria does too. Can you tell?

A Special Bear

Sara-Beth — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 21:37:39 +0000

This photo was taken in October of 2006, a few weeks after Noa was born, with this special Eagles bear that her Grandpa sent her.

I don’t know what came over her (maybe superbowl season?) but Noa felt it was important to start indoctrinating her littlest sister on who her favorite team should be.

I didn’t put the bear in her bed or tuck it into her arm. I’m glad Noa takes her role as big sister-mentor seriously. I bet Grandpa is too.