All out bursts of laughter…softened heart by sweet words….conviction brought on by profounds sayings….

All from the mouths of babes… my babes.

And if I don’t record it fast, despite it’s dearness to my heart, it will flit away.  Carried off by this absent minded-mother’s tidal wave of to-do’s, and appointments, and people’s needs that crash into, and overflow my mind.

So here it is.  An internet accountability, if Mouths of Babes Monday is declared. It’ll force me to type it up real quick.  Picture or none.  Deep heart ponderings, or not.  It will be up there. Something one of these little convicting, and challenging, and endearing, and joy-giving children has to say.

“And Jesus said unto them, ‘Yea; have you never read, “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings you have perfected praise”?”  Matthew 21:16 NKJV

It’s all praise. Every last word of it (well, almost). The funny things said, they praise the One who put personality and character and little minds working in these little babes.

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Danny’s Dad, the one who dreams big dreams, the one who loves his nine kids and seventeen grandchildren dearly, the one who lives on the other side of the planet on the island country of Japan, he sent it out.

And Danny and I couldn’t help but discuss it at dinner. a flit of hope in our hearts.

“Did you get Dad’s email today?”

“Yeah….Is there any possible way?”

Half the family will be in Japan this Christmas.  Could the rest of us join them for another Iverson Christmas in Japan, this time with the one additional spouse and the thirteen additional grandchildren?

“Its craziness”. I think.  But maybe…maybe if we turned it into a mission trip.  Maybe if we pool frequent flyer miles.   Maybe….

Danny and I brainstorm possibilities.

And the kids brainstorm theirs.

Trinity:  “Mommy, I promise to always shut the door so we don’t waste money on air-conditioning!  And I won’t leave the water running anymore so we don’t waste money on that!  Oh! and I’ll make sure Malachi doesn’t spill all the food and waste it so that you have to buy more!”

Katy-Grace: “I can give you my two dollars from my birthday.  That will help, right?”

DJ:  I guess, I can give my money….but I really wanted that Lego set.

Trinity:  “Maybe we can collect stuff we don’t want and sell it.  Can we have a yard sale, Mommy?”

DJ: “We could sell a kid.”

         “We have lots of those…”

Me (only in my thoughts): “Exactly.  Which is precisely why we can’t go to Japan for Christmas.”

and the next day, kids are busy at play outside, and shortly thereafter I see this:

“Hey kids…what’s going on with the berries filling our empty recycling containers?”

And after some investigating, I find this…

and this:

With a very excited blur of explanation…

We’re collecting berries to sell so we can go to Japan. LOOK HOW MANY WE HAVE!!! We’re gonna get aLOT of money for these! Right, Mommy?”

They had been out there a good hour, working away.

Industrial little ones, they are.

And after more investigating, I found my kitchen stool…

and my eldest son up in a tree….

and my youngest son, coerced into helping as well…

But unfortunately, berries from a dogwood tree don’t have a very good exchange rate to the Japanese yen.

So we will give thanks for the invention of Skype and iPads. And use the berries for Christmas decoration instead.