Twenty and thirty-somethings, go help Craig out for an article he’s writing. He’s asking for your opinion, so don’t hold back.

My 3 year old is on a quest for world domination. Her first target is me. Her logic? If I can break my mother, then I’m sure I can conquer the entire planet! [cue evil laughter and rubbing of hands]

Scene: Monday morning car ride. Already we’ve fought battles over getting out of bed, getting dressed and an imaginary boo-boo. Now we have just dropped Jeremy off at work and at last we’re on our way to McDonalds for the free coffee and indoor playground. It’s a beautiful day with cool breezes and blue skies.

Liv: Roll windows up. It’s too windy. TOO WINDY!

Me: Okay. [rolls windows up, on Liv’s side of the car only]

Liv: I’m too sweaty. Turn heater on!

Me: You mean the air conditioner? No way. It’s nice outside and we’re leaving the windows down.

Liv: TURN HEATER ON! TURN HEATER ON!

Me: Who is in control of this car?

Liv: Me. [fingers in mouth, as though it’s the end of this discussion]

Dream Sequence: Dark-haired woman with toddler in the backseat parks car and jumps out. Hands flailing in the air, she runs around the car with a crazed look in her eyes, mouth open in a silent scream. Can no one save her? One down, the world to go in the Quest for World Domination.

In the week of Vacation Bible School at Zion, we have a theme…

fun games in the park (thanks to Lindsey), and…

Livia’s all-time favorite activity, crafts. Don’t ask me what this craft is, I just know I love it for it’s shiny, odd roundness. (Mrs. Wittmann, nice work! It’s time for another craft night for grown-ups.)

Pray for Amelia.

As an addendum to my emotionally-weary post of last night, and for the record, we are surrounded by good people. My parents, Jeremy’s parents, our beloved neighbors and friends, our church family — we appreciate them all. One of our friends, after helping install some hardware yesterday said the most supportive statement I’ve heard yet, “Liv, I’m going to help you obey your parents.” And today at a meeting for Zion’s Vacation Bible School, a small group of women gathered, all who are dealing with sleep issues similar to ours.

It is good to be supported. It is good to be among others walking the same path. It is good to be surrounded by good people. Thank you, dear good people of mine.

Things have been hard around here recently. Our church burned down — and now our congregation finds itself in an unexpected period of transition. Livia is rebelling against sleep and we’re rounding the corner on the third full week that her sleeping patterns are out of whack. Friends have moved away and I desperately miss their friendship, not to mention their little girls. Loved ones of friends and acquaintances have passed away in recent days. Things are kind of hard. And my heart is heavy with the emotional burden.

I’ve been reading Psalm 65, marked in my Bible with the words, “Zion Church, Summer ’97”:

Praise awaits you, O God, in Zion;
to you our vows will be fulfilled.
O you who hear prayer,
to you all men will come.
When we were overwhelmed by sins,
you forgave our transgressions.
Blessed are those you choose
and bring near to live in your courts!
We are filled with the good things of your house,
of your holy temple.

You answer us with awesome deeds
of righteousness,
O God our Savior,
the hope of all the ends of the earth…

While I long to help Livia sleep, there is little I can do to make her rest adequately. We’re in a fairly common stage and, with some wisdom and determination, we will see this phase cycle out in time. What I am facing is nothing compared to the heartache I imagine my friends, Steve and Jen Allen, are facing. Baby Amelia is terribly sick with an infection raging in her small body and I can only empathize in the slightest of ways how helpless Jen must feel to heal her little girl.

There is good news for all the heartache. We have a Savior who cares for us, who loves us so greatly he died for us. We have a God of hope, who generously gives us grace exactly when we need it. I ask God to give me patience and perseverance with Livia these days. I ask him to heal Amelia from this infection, from leukemia. Thanks, friends, for praying along with me.

• Sometimes a building really is just a building.
• Sometimes a building is more than just a building.
• Lots of things can become idols. We should reconsider our priorities when we give more devotion and adoration to them than to God.
• Three year olds are crazy little people.
• My own crazy little person has pushed me to the brink of crazy as well on numerous occasions this past week.
• God answers my prayer for patience, perseverance and preservation when I turn to Him.
• I like to be in control.
• There were a lot of events this past week that I couldn’t control.
• Good thing I believe in a God who loves me and, you guessed it, really is in control. Some of you know how comforting this is; others of you might think I’m crazy for trusting in a personal, loving God.
• Community, especially committed community, is a powerful thing. It’s hard for me to fathom that there are people in our lives (“our” meaning the Tredway’s) who know all about us and love us anyway.
• My community represents Jesus to me. They are His hands, His ears, His feet.
• This week has humbled me. Can you tell? : )

Happy anniversary to my favorite man! Nine years ago we were young pups who didn’t know much about marriage, but we knew we wanted to be together. Jeremy, we’re only begining to mine the depths of true love together. May God bless our union and use us to honor Him. I love you.

Thanks to you praying folk out there. Good news: our sleep situation is improving. We are having less tantrums (Jeremy and me included, heh) and we’re slowly figuring out how to encourage Livia to sleep peacefully at night. This photo truly cracks me up considering that Liv has never been the type to fall asleep in a heap, much less in a heap in the broad daylight. Apparently her nighttime habits caught up to her and there was little I could do Monday afternoon to wake her up!

Right around Livia’s bedtime last night, I saw John Russnogle (fellow Zion member) rounding the corner into our yard with a large ladder. Later when I asked Jeremy about his interaction with John, he told me that we’re storing the church ladder indefinitely.

And then it hit me. Our church building is really gone.

I fell asleep and woke up again to a slideshow of sorts in my brain. Images of the church building click on and off and I try to recall all the details I can. The slideshow didn’t let me fall back asleep after 5:30am, so I threw on some shoes and clothes and rounded the city block for what seems like the millionth time in the last few days.

The east wall gapes open, the shattered innards of the church exposed. A bright red Coleman cooler, part of it at least, is easily visible on the lawn. After a few minutes of peering intently, I realized I could see the bent frame of one of the refrigerators on the west side of the kitchen. Also easily visible from that perspective are the doors leading into the coffeehouse, so carefully and thoughtfully constructed a few years ago, and the door that led from the choir room to the worship hall.

With all three lanes of 9th Street open, for a time at least, I felt an incongruity between the devastation of the church and traffic on the street. For all of us, even those of us who are grieving, it’s Monday, the beginning of a new week. Still, I wonder how many folks can get back to life as usual while I can’t tear my eyes away from my much beloved, now burned church.

I am not without hope, but my heart is greatly grieved. There’s no way to bypass the grief part… so for now my tears will flow.

We’ve endured a few sleepless nights around our house this week due to a tantrum-y, unsleepy little girl. And let me tell you, it has been so not pleasant. Lack of sleep makes everything worse, in my opinion. It makes my third bout with strep tougher to fight (yes, I am on tougher antibiotics now, but still, argh!). It makes Jeremy’s sinus infection that much more exasperating. It makes the daily to-do list that much more tedious and I’m sure it makes it harder for Jeremy to last the day at work. Caffeine alone can only do so much!

Here’s where a little audience participation comes in… When was the last time you didn’t sleep during normal hours? Was it for something fun, or for something a little more, shall we say, challenging? How long have you lasted without sleep?

The only times I can remember having fun instead of sawing z’s was during a junior high New Year’s Eve all-nighter with the EFree youth group in town and during a lock-in with the old Covenant youth group when I was just getting to know my future husband. Other than that, I’ve always chosen to sleep at night. No all-nighters during college, not one. No extended sleepless nights after Liv was born; we adopted her at 7 weeks and she was only waking once in the night.

Like I said, this week has been not-so-pleasant in the sleep category.

Now it’s your turn. Leave a comment for me to read at 3am tonight.