A few months ago, right around the start of the Southern summer storms, Nora was getting really nervous about thunderstorms. Seattle rarely experiences thunder, so she wasn’t used to loud storms. One night she was practically trembling with fear as a storm rolled through. The story of Jesus calming the storm came to our minds. We told her about the time Jesus told his friends not to be afraid of a storm because he was with them.

Then we found the illustrated story in her Jesus Storybook Bible. (It’s for kids, technically, but I would seriously recommend it to anyone. I absolutely love the approach this version takes and it has completely changed the way I think about Christmas and Easter. But I digress.)

A few weeks later, as we were driving to Birmingham to visit family, we drove right into a loud, fairly intense thunderstorm. Nora was crying (“I don’t like the rain so much”) so we reminded her of the story and how Jesus was in charge the whole time and he told his friends not to be afraid. Moments after we got to the part where Jesus told the rain to go away, we passed through the last of the rain of our storm. Nora looked out the window with wonder. “Jesus made rain go away?” It was such a grace that she was able to connect the story with a real experience.

And an obsession was born. Nora wanted to read and reread this story in her book. The actual writing is a bit above her head, so we paraphrased. Many a time she retold her version of the story to us. She was overjoyed when she realized a mini illustration from the story was included on the cover. “Mommy! Ook! Thunder booming!”

I was finally able to get one of those retellings on camera and I’m so glad we have it. One of my favorite details is that one of the pages is torn as a result of countless turns.

Without further ado, Nora will now retell her version of Jesus Calming the Storm. (I did my best on the subtitles, but I’m not sure I got them all right. You’ll get the idea.)

Time to do laundry? (Don’t miss Nora’s cameo)

Here a song, there a song, everywhere sing a song! Nora has been all about singing songs lately. Sing along to some of her current favorites.

Kind of scary & amazing how babies eyes are so drawn to light.

As Buzz on TV goes, so goes Buzz in the living room.

Back at the new Teague Compound we enjoyed, a picnic by the pool—on the river!