Craig Dunham wrote this on his blog today:

Struggling whether to “do” Halloween? Do yourself a favor and read this article from Ransom Fellowship.

Recently I’ve been wrestling with the way we Christians interact with the world around us, particularly on Halloween. I’ve been struggling with animosity towards the way many churches offer “alternative” activities on this day. While I think it’s great to celebrate events on the historic church calendar, I question the motives behind the Reformation Day idea. Anthony Bradley has posted on this topic as well and, as usual, has sparked interesting conversations.

I apologize that my thoughts aren’t more cohesively presented here. I’m still sorting through a whole bunch of ideas, trying to figure out literally What Jesus Would Do.

**Another link to another blog post, containing many more links if you have time to read it all.

She’s been to the pumpkin patch, to Zion’s Fall Fest, to daddy’s office for trick-or-treating, to her school’s trick-or-treating Fall Fest, and now we finally have Halloween at our doorstep. Ah, what a season. Let’s just say that Livia’s chocoholic parents are quite satisfied.

Remember how I purchased a pie pumpkin awhile back with the end goal being Jeannette’s Pumpkin Pie? Well, I achieved half of that goal. I cut, baked and pureed the pumpkin… and then left it sitting in my fridge for a few days while I pondered the eatability of a pumpkin pie at the Tredway household.

We aren’t big pumpkin pie fans, which is actually why I wanted to use fresh pumpkin to make one, so I decided to freeze the extra puree and make a pie when it could be shared. Yesterday I made a Pumpkin Spice Cake and it was only so-so. But the bundt pan sure made it look pretty, right?

Liv has become my pint-sized Kitchen Helper. She excels at sampling batters and frostings, and at keeping her mama on her toes mentally. Her heart is in the right place, however, and she loves measuring spices and touching the Kitchen Aid mixer. (Who wouldn’t love that, right?) This picture shows the way she’s mastered the task of Icing Taster while I decorated the Spiderweb Cookies. Go check out Needs More Butter, by the way, to see some super cute Halloween Cupcakes by the Moreheads. And for more fun and inspiration in the kitchen, visit Foodie for Thought by one of my best girlfriends on the planet. Give her a warm welcome to Blogland.

“Totoro’s at iUniverse. That his work name…”

Livia, deep in imagination, talking to the bathroom mirror about her father at work.

**For the full effect, here’s Livia’s statement phonetically: “Totowo’s at iVuniverse. Dat his work name…”

Trusting God is definitely easier said than done, in my opinion. It seems like a lot of people I know are struggling to trust God and his promises, especially when it comes to unanswered prayers regarding jobs, babies and the like. For this reason, I appreciated the closing paragraph in Andree Seu’s article in WORLD Magazine entitled, “Confessions of an insomniac” [October 6, 2007]:

This is the best I can do with unanswered prayer. The possible answers seem to be “yes,” “no,” or “you have no idea what’s going on behind the curtain of your sensate reality, so you best make up your mind once and for all–I do love you, Will you trust Me?”

The curtain of sensate reality. Isn’t that the truth? During the two years we waited for, and struggled in the meantime, to become parents, we never had a clue how wonderful it would be to have Livia Raine join our family. If my plan had been followed, this specific child wouldn’t be ours today. I can just imagine God saying, “Hang on. I’ve got this incredible baby girl. You have to wait for a few details (conception, birth, postpartum issues to name a few) to take place before she can be placed in your arms. But, boy, if you would just trust me on this one, I’ve got more than you asked for or imagined coming for you. Hang in there. I love you.”

As long as we’re alive, we stand behind that curtain and struggle with trust. But if you put your trust in God, you’ll never be disappointed beyond healing. That’s just how life is with an all-powerful, all-knowing God who loves you personally.

For the sake of a self-portrait I pretended to shoot a picture with the little viewfinder, but the truth is, I use my LCD screen for almost all photos. I love my Canon Powershot S1 IS. It’s a great camera for many reasons. The image stabilization is perfect for me because apparently I can’t hold absolutely still for more than a millisecond. The 10x zoom allows for some sweet close-ups, while the 3.2 megapixels gives me more than enough, uh, megapixelage for printing large photos. The camera has a fast-shot option (can you tell I don’t speak camera lingo at all? I’m sure there’s a better term for this feature) which is the only way I can capture my always-in-motion three year old. The biggest drawback, in my opinion, to this Canon model shows up when shooting in low light. I cannot take low light pictures to my satisfaction at all. I’ve wrestled with the flash, and overall, I choose not to use it. You’ll notice that most, if not all, of my photos use natural light for good reason.

A few years ago Jeremy kidnapped me from work and drove off down Highway 2 for an anniversary getaway in Nebraska City. Over dinner at the Lied Lodge that night I unwrapped a fabulous gift: this Canon camera. Props for any technology, cameras included, in the Tredway household go to Jeremy. So it is my dear husband I have to thank for encouraging me in this amazing hobby.

Jeremy, the Ibex-ho-gib-bird

Liv, the Flam-lion-monarch butterfly (whose pigtails are under her mane)

Becca, the Rein-fen-monarch butterfly

Had to do it because of Renae.

You can do it too.

* Today was a perfect fall day, warm and windy with gorgeous blue skies. I could feel Seasonal Affective Disorder kicking in after all the rainy days we had last week. Today was the perfect sunny pickup for my soul.

* Speaking of pickups for the soul… if I may use my neighbor and friend as an illustration… Kind deeds do not go unnoticed, they are definitely blessings. Renae recently posted about a gift received in the mail from Charity & Andy, a gift I’m sure she wasn’t expecting by any means. And then I happened to be in her kitchen when she noticed that someone (kitchen elves perhaps?) had scrubbed the place clean. Isn’t that so great? Serving someone besides yourself is always good.

* Today I decided that it’s okay that I’m not a great housekeeper because I would totally find way too much pride in my cleanliness if I was. When I clean/reorganize an area, I survey it from many angles and point out my handiwork repeatedly to my husband. See how the dirt and disorganization keeps me humble? Heh.

* Three year olds, who choose not to nap even when they really really need the nap, go to bed very early. And almost thirty year olds, who desire naps when they really really are tired and yet don’t get them, still stay up late.

* Friday Night Lights, the television program, is a perfectly decent reason to stay up late.

The Cookie Formerly Known as Chocolate Chip sits in crumbled chunks on Livia’s plate. Surprised she didn’t eat it, I ask what happened.

“I got all the chocolate chips out,” she says.

“Well, are you going to eat the rest of the cookie?”

“No. Just the chocolate chips.”

O-kay. There’s some serious chocolate-lovin’ going on in my house.

The other day when I picked Liv up from preschool she bemoaned the lack of chocolate pudding. I pressed her for more information and discovered they only served VANILLA pudding during snacktime that day.

Oh the horrors. Vanilla.