Learning to know Him... the parable of the fig tree

This week in my daily bible reading something stood out to me.
Since it quirked by interest I have decided to pursue learning more about it with the hopes that it will reveal to me a little bit more about God.
After all, the bible says " You shall seek me and you will find me if you seek me with all your heart."Jeremiah 29:13

The parable is a short one... not followed by much explanation and it goes like this:
Then Jesus told this story: "A man planted a fig tree in his garden and came again and again to see if there was any fruit on it, but he was always disappointed.7 Finally, he said to his gardener, `I've waited three years, and there hasn't been a single fig! Cut it down. It's just taking up space in the garden.' 8 "The gardener answered, `Sir, give it one more chance. Leave it another year, and I'll give it special attention and plenty of fertilizer.9 If we get figs next year, fine. If not, then you can cut it down.'"( from Luke 13)

So what do you think? Who is the gardner in this scenerio? Who is the fig tree? Some say that the gardner is the Holy Spirit who intercedes on our behalf to God(the owner) Some have said that this parable is a story of redemption.... of Christ asking for time from God to redeem us....
The story seems to say to me that God has granted us another chance.... Not indefinite chances of course... but another day, another breath, another moment.
Am I embracing those moments to know him, "to grow" fully and completely?
I hope moving forward that I can.

Fog

Today as we pulled out of the garage to head to church, I noticed immediately that the air was filled with fog. Not the typical early autumn fog that rolls across the ground, accompaning the frost and leaving a cold wet sheen upon the grass. This was heavy, a pea soup sort of Fog which went in every direction and made driving slow and tedious.
As we got very near to the church I joked to the family "What happened to the church!? It is gone!" Indeed, the fog was so thick that we could not see the building of which drive we had just turned upon. Ethan grew upset immediately and started to cry. Quickly, Cliff calmed him down and told him it was a joke and as we drew nearer to the parking lot you could densely see the outline of the large building. Ethan caught on quickly and to express his relief or perhaps to cover is gullibility, he began to joke aloud over and over that someone had hidden the church. This joking went on until we were all unloaded and in the building.
Through much of my life, I have felt like this fog. I have struggled to know WHO I am, how the world sees me, what I am about. More so than even this, I have struggled with seeing clearly who I am in Christ and how the picture of serving Him with My life has fit together. It suddenly became clear to me as I sat quietly listening to the message- that it does not matter WHO I am... all the matter is that I know who HE is. The key to growing closer to God, to finding direction in serving Him, is learning who he is. The rest he will make clear to me over time. Life is Fog, but Christ- he is our lighthouse, our becon of light, and it is through knowing him that we can truly see life and who we are, as his children.
Throughout the first experience while we served and into the second experience as Cliff and I sat in the main hall watching the message, I thought about God and my relationship with Him and how I relate to him. In the last month or two I have felt adrift. Not in my faith that He is real, but in my interactions with Him, in my commitment to spend time seeking Him. I have been drifting through my recent days with half hearted attempts at growing closer to him. And in the most recent days, I have felt that adriftness. I know the key to growing closer with him is seeking Him, searching him out, learning about him.
This is my quest in the coming days and weeks and I hope that you can each help me with this quest. I don't want to make another half hearted attempt. I want to be earnest, consistent, committed to growing closer to him. Dear Reader, could you please help to encourage me in this? Would you consider emailing me (mdmoltsau@hotmail.com) in the next few weeks to check in on this quest, sending me encouragement in seeking him, and sharing with me ways or tools that have helped you come to know him. Scriptures that speak to your heart, stories of times when he has spoken to you?
All my life I have sought to know WHO I am- now it is time to focus on WHO He is..... and my hope is that the former will fall into place in doing so.

Olivia, Me, and a Lazy Day

I am home from work today, and making the most of my time with Olivia. We have nothing planned to do today and it feels GREAT! We took a trip outdoors for a few minutes to play, even though it is still a little muddy and wet from the rain earlier in the week. Trying for a good mother/daughter portrait. She was more interested in playing.

Chasing Bayer. This is the first time I have seen her run without her "jet wings" to balance her

Just a moment please..........

Last weekend was a whirlwind weekend for me which started at the Sugarland Outdoor Zooamphitheater Concert Event in Oklahoma City. I was working the event at the US Cellular tent, taking free photos of fans which we printed out on the spot. It is quite a treat to see so many happy, excited people and to get to take a photo to help them commemorate the event.
I was happily snapping away and stepped away from a group of ladies to print out their portrait. As I waited for my picture to come out of the photo maker, I saw a wonderful picture come out just ahead of mine of a silly little girl with wild blond pigtails, Lisa Loeb type glasses, smiling empishly in a pink polkadoted dress and rain boots. She was definitely a ham! I smiled to myself and handed off the pictures I had printed to the eagerly waiting Sugarland fans and turned my attention to the little girl in polka dots.
It was just a moment, but it changed the atmosphere of the whole night. As I watched her with her family, my breath caught in my throat. She was there with her mom and dad, and a little sister who was in a matching polka dotted dressed and pearched gingerly on her daddy's shoulders. She had tiny little pigtail buns in her equally blond hair and it took only a moments glance to see that she was the more graceful, dainty sister. What a pair they made.
I had to remind myself to breath as I thought of my own two little girls, the 14 month old goofy girl I have here on earth, and her 26 month old sister, a graceful little angel in heaven. What would they look like in matching dresses? A fragile red head with curly hair and pale skin, and her brown haired, olive skinned, sturdy comedian sister in tow?My heart constricted and I excused myself to the bathroom(port-o-potty) before I began to cry.
I have been thinking of the two girls ever since... and trying to imagine my own ... together, in matching sister dresses.

First Day of School

Ethan headed off to school at the end of the summer. It has been a new and exciting experience for all of us. He is adjusting well and learning new things everyday.

Labor Day Fun

On Labor day, Cliff and I were both off and enjoyed some much needed time together as a family, just hanging out. Ethan and I got out his linkadoos which he got for his birthday the day before and made a few fun animals. See if you can guess what they are. Our linkadoo pets

Horsing around in the living room


Olivia, Daddy, and Ethan( still in PJ's just like mom)

Birthday Party Bonanza!

Over Labor Day weekend we had a visit from Grandpa Owl and Grandma Angie from Louisiana. Since they were in town, we decided to have Ethan's birthday party since they rarely get to make events like that due to the distance.

Sema, holding up what is left of the Optimus Prime Penata. He didn't stand a chance!

The Dinosaur cake. Ethan just wanted to play with the figurines..............

Emily and Sema


Lauren and Joselyn
Kylye is determined to keep up with the big kids

Sam is soaked!

Susan and Jaxon, also soaked!

The battle is on!
About to open presents

Ethan opening Presents

Papa Dave and Olivia. The kids wore her out!

Ethan after the water fight

My Daddy, Alan Wayne, and my other mother, Mama Angie

Grandpa Owl and Olivia( I think she is trying to squirm down, hence that face she is making)

Weekend Visitors

Over the last weekend in August we had a very pleasant visit with Papa David's cousins from New Hampshire. Cousin Jimmy and his wife Karen came up on Sunday and we enjoyed a stroll @ Theta Pond followed by dinner at Hideaway Pizza and ice cream from Marble Slab Creamery.
The kids really enjoyed the visit and it was a beautiful day to be outside. They brought a small present for each of the kids, including a teddy bear windchime for Faith's garden. This touched my heart very much that they were so thoughtful as to not leave her out. On Sunday,even though she wasn't with us- I FELT like a mom of three kids- and that was a wonderful feeling.


Ethan, playing at Theta Pond. It seems that transformer did not leave his hands.

Cliff's parents, David and Maureen, and Cousin Jimmy and Karen

Karen, with one of the Orange Hibiscus flowers from the Campus Garden tucked behind her ear.

Mimi Maureen, Papa David, and Cliff

The Carlson Men: David, Cliff's older brother brother Dael, and Cliff

Uncle Dael and Ethan

Me and Olivia

Maureen and her look alike: Olivia

Blessings from our Hail storm

As many of you loyal readers know, in June we suffered quite a hail storm here. It was enough to break windshields and windows out of cars around town and it totaled our roof.

We experienced quite a stressful moment when we discovered that our home owners insurance did not have total roof replacement in the clause but offered us a " depreciated cash value". This meant that our share of the roof replacement was going to be several thousand dollars. Yikes.
I wasn't sure how we would manage to come up with this sum of money without using a credit card( which we have been working for 18 months to eradicate completely).
As always, God has a way of providing that we cant imagine or comprehend- and we found a way to pay cash for our share of the repairs without using a credit card or taking out a loan. What a wonderful feeling it was to have that heavy burden of finance lifted from our shoulders.
The blessing from our hail storm of course, is that we have a stronger, more beautiful roof above our heads.
Now we just need to repaint the outside and trim up our hedges!

Here is a before picture:

And here is after: