Our First Visit to the Library

I used to teach Good News Club at a local elementary school each Friday, but the school year is almost over so clubs have ended until the new school year resumes. Most of my time each Friday was spent caring for Elijah and preparing to teach or lead songs and activities. It was always fun to practice leading the songs for Elijah. I would sing and dance and he would just giggle. Aaron came home from work a bit early to care for Elijah so I could leave for club and teach without the distraction of a cute, little baby. It was such a blessing for me to be a part of this ministry. I was trained by Child Evangelism Fellowship and I learned how to more effectively share the gospel in the context of just about any Bible story. The training was top-notch! I also got to see several kids pray to receive Christ this year and grow in their faith as we talked about what the Bible has to say about our lives.

Clubs ending for the year was bitter sweet. I'll miss the kids and teachers, but it is so nice to have a day that I don't have to leave the apartment if I don't want to. I have used my time on some Fridays to try to catch up on cleaning, organizing and projects. Other Fridays I meet with my dear friend Deborrah, our worship leader's new wife, and we have lunch, go through a chapter of Power of a Praying Wife during Elijah's afternoon nap and then go for a walk with Elijah. Today she couldn't make it so I decided Elijah and I would take our first outing to the library! I lathered him up with sun screen, packed our back-pack, stuck him in the baby Bjorn and we were off. It seemed like a very long walk especially after Elijah's weight was combined with my back-pack full of books, cds and dvds!

It was a pretty fun outing. We stopped by Safeway on the way to enjoy the air conditioning and I bought Elijah a couple snacks. So, on the way to the library, for the first time, he chomped on a banana that wasn't cut up or mashed up. It was pretty cute. He is able to take bites with his two little bottom teeth and his upper gum. We wandered around a bit tying to get acquainted with the library and most of the time we were there, Elijah just smiled at the kids around him, watched them or squealed with excitement (very loudly I might add) when somebody interacted with him. He looked at/chewed on some books while I picked some board books for him. The book I am most excited about though is for me: The Encyclepedia of Infant and Toddler Activities. I want to do new things with Elijah that will help his brain develop, but I am often at a loss as to what to do. I am hoping this has some new, quality ideas. I am going to curl up with it in a few minutes, but I just wanted to share two more of Elijah's firsts: the library and eating a banana!