what are YOU?

a few weeks ago at church, my bible study group played this game where we were given a list of adjectives for each letter of the alphabet. we had to circle the word that best described us...for each letter in our name. i enjoyed this so much (ha!) that i decided to "use" it for the bible study i host in my home. all of us gals had some big laughs....and after the ladies left that night....i decided to have josh "play," too! today....bryson was sitting in my office and he found the list. i had him circle the ones that describe him...and i enjoyed his answers. here are the words that describe us....

k=kind

r=reluctant

i=inadequate

s=self-conscious

t=thrilled

i=inferior

(can you tell i have some issues?? all of my friends are so encouraging, and i'm thankful for women who remind me who i am IN CHRIST, when i feel some self doubt comin' on)

j=jocular

o=off-the-wall

s=skeptical

h=humbled

...and my ABSOLUTE favorite(s)....

b=brave

r=restless ('cause he doesn't get enough sleep...ha ha)

y=yielding (he's very patient, he says)

s=self-confident

o=off-the-wall (like father, like son!)

n=nice

...so tell me....what are YOU???

colonial day

last month, the second grade kids at b's school got to have colonial day! they all dressed up (and so did the teachers). it was a fun day to be a part of, and even little brother enjoyed all of the festivities! :)

benjamin franklin came!

the kids learned all about the printing press!

two handsome...and very "colonial-looking" men!

beware...this is a re-post!

i am so behind on blogging, and i wanted to make sure to put an "Easter-y" post on here!! here's last year's....i hope you enjoy it (if you can make it through the whole thing)!!

*(warning: this post is one of those randomallovertheplacegooffonatangent posts! and, please forgive me for my elementary ramblings. i am not a deep thinker or an intellect. wish i was, but i am not. things usually sound way better in my head! i just really wanted to put into words some of the thoughts i am having this week. it's long, too- so i commend you, if you make it through the whole thing!)*

"It's about a Lamb, not a bunny."

as Easter approaches, i had to share this little quote that i recently saw. it's so true....for those of us who believe that Jesus suffered and died upon the cross. while it's fun to hunt for eggs and eat a ton of food (my favorite part of any celebration), that is not what Easter is about. Easter is about a Lamb. The Lamb. Jesus was the Lamb that was slain. He was the sacrifice for our sins (john 1:29).

today, many of us will recognize Good Friday, and it has always been strange to me that we call it "good." it doesn't seem "good" that Jesus suffered such a horrible death. it doesn't seem"good" that His beard was plucked out, that a crown of thorns was shoved deeply into His head, or that nails pierced His hands and feet. it doesn't seem "good" that He was so brutally beaten that He was beyond recognizable. and, that's only scratching the surface of what He endured. for me. for you. He died because....

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." (john 3:16)

He died because we're worth it. He died because He wants us to be in heaven with Him when our time on this earth is up. He died because He loves YOU. wow. it's hard to fathom, really.

but- it's not enough for us to just believe that there was a Jesus, or that there is a God (god?). the Bible tells us that the devil and his demons believe in Christ (James 2:19). (and, umm.....they are obviously not in heaven.) what i mean when i say that is, we can't just say...."yeah, i believe there's a God"...do nothing with that belief, and expect to live eternally in heaven with Christ someday. isaiah 43:10 says...

"...so that you may know and believe Me and understand that I am He."

so, what do we do with our belief in Him? we don't just keep it to ourselves. we seek Him, learn His Word, worship Him for who He is. we grow in faith, and in knowledge....and then our belief turns into knowing Him. having a relationship with Him. for those of us who are Christians, it's not about religion. it's about having a relationship with our Creator. the Maker of heaven and earth. our heavenly Father. our Prince of Peace. our King of Kings and Lord of Lords. our Lamb. it's not about a list of "do's" and "don'ts."

hebrews 12:2 says....

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

wow. we are that joy that the verse speaks of! do you consider yourself a "joy?" i often have a hard time when i think of myself as being a "joy" to the Lord. yet, again and again in His Word....that's what He calls us. (you might even say we're His pride and joy!) Jesus delights in us. wow. it's hard to take in.

though we are His joy, we are stinkin'....rotten sinners. we need a Savior. the Savior. not just any Savior. we need Jesus. and He had to die up on that cross, so that He could make a way for us to join Him in heaven. there had to be a sacrifice for our sins. blood had to be shed.

praise God, though, that our Jesus didn't just die and stay dead. He ROSE from the dead. growing up, i went to a church where our pastor always said...."He is risen!" we'd then exclaim, "He is risen, indeed!"

that is something to celebrate!! so, it is "good" that Jesus died for us. He took the place for us. He died for sins that we commit. repeatedly. everyday. all the time. He, who was sinLESS, died in my place. your place. wow.

i am reminded of a song by chris tomlin, called Jesus Messiah. it should be playing for you now. listen to the words and take them in. and, here's the kicker....

He would have died upon the cross, if only for YOU. if you were the only person on the earth, He still would have died. now, that....??....i seriously can't fathom. He loves me that much. He loves you that much.

my God is not dead. on that resurrection sunday, two thousand (+) years ago....women went to the tomb and found it empty!!

luke 24:4-6 says....

"While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, 'Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen!'...."

my Savior, my Redeemer....He lives!! He is alive and He is active.

(the second song on my playlist right now is called my Redeemer lives.)

do you believe in Him? do you know Him? do you know that, if you died today, you'd spend eternity in heaven? have you asked Christ to dwell in your heart? is your life bearing fruit (can others tell?), because of that decision? remember, we can never be good enough. we can't work hard enough. we will fail, time and again. we can't just profess a belief in some god, and then go on about our merry way. nope. it's much deeper than that.

"good" people don't make it to heaven. people who are saved by God's free gift of grace do. all we have to do is say..."yes....i want that gift that You offer, Lord. i want You in my life. forgive me. thank You for dying for me." and then, we let our lives shine brightly for Jesus. we are still going to sin- a lot. we are going to mess up- a lot. but, if we are committed...we will grow closer to Him each day. we will confess our sin and rejoice in the fact that He will "remember it no more" (heb. 8:12). all sin is bad. on a human level, i sometimes feel that certain sins are worse than others....but they're not. Jesus died for all sin. there's nothing we've done (or can/will do)that is too big for Jesus. He will forgive us if we ask. He died for all of the sins we have committed, and all those we have yet to commit. what an amazing God!!

when you've got a Lamb like that, who needs a stinkin' bunny??

so, on this Good Friday, I say to you.....

HAPPY EASTER! HE IS RISEN!! HE IS RISEN, INDEED!!

hudson's surgery

on monday morning, hudson had surgery (to repair/correct his hydrocele). this surgery had been prayed over by many faithful friends and family members....for months in advance. the Lord showed up in a mighty way. there was a complete peace, knowing that the Lord was in total control. (the surgery is pretty common, and it was an outpatient deal, but still....when your baby is being put under anesthesia....worries and fear can creep in. those of you who have been through it with your kids know what i'm talking about, right?)

we had prayed that: we would feel comfortable and safe with the doctors, that God would guide the surgeon's hands, that hudson would go in and come out of it well, that he wouldn't be scared, that he wouldn't ask for food the morning of, and we had prayed for so many other things (big and small) as well. can i just 'give a shout out' to the Lord?!!!

He couldn't have answered our prayers any "better"....if that makes any sense!

from the moment hudson woke that day....to the moment we got home with him that evening, we felt the Lord's presence....every second!! hudson never asked for food/drink that morning (a small miracle), he was NOT scared at all, he was so brave, the surgery went perfectly, the doctors and nurses raved about him (the anesthesiologist told us he's never seen a kid laugh while getting the gas!....he was so impressed with hudson!), he came out of the anesthesia better than we anticipated, and we weren't fearful while he was away from us. i just can't thank my Lord Jesus enough!!! i could go on and on all day....about His goodness and His grace.

monday, april 11, 2011 was a faith building day. it was a day that reminded me to cover all things in prayer (even the smallest of details). it was a day of complete thankfulness. it was a day of joy (especially now that we are finally finished with h's issue). it was a day of peace. it was a day to rejoice! ironically enough (but not really ironic....since the Lord speaks to us in His perfect ways), my devotional that day started off with: "This is the day that I have made. Rejoice and be glad in it. Begin the day with open hands of faith, ready to receive all that I am pouring into this brief portion of your life." WOW....is He good, or what??!!

here are some photos....

in the car....ready to go....all smiles! we had taken hudson to build-a-bear over the weekend, so that he could have a buddy to go into surgery with him! his bear's name is "sergie." get it?!

hudson, sergie, and mimi

can you believe the smiles from this kid??!

hudson also got new mario jammies to wear to the hospital! of course, sergie needed jammies, too!

all dressed in his hospital gear...waiting to go back....

daddy and his boy

hudson and mommy

sweet, sweet nurse....listening to h's heart. she thought he was adorable!

matching caps...

before they wheeled h in, i prayed with him...and we gave him lots of encouragement. can you believe he's still smiling?? this was the last we saw of him, until after the surgery. as soon as he went through the double doors without us, josh and i started crying. hudson was way more brave than his mom and dad!!

i got to go back and be with my boy, as soon as he woke up. he wasn't too happy at first....and he really wanted the i.v. out! he was so sleepy....he laid there so still....and he was sad.

after a short while, they moved h into his very own recovery room. once the popsicles started coming, he was happy! he was ravenous, but he'd eat or drink something...and up it would come about five minutes later. poor boy couldn't keep anything down. that sure didn't stop him from trying, though! he had lots of popsicles, jello, juice, ice, and water!

they wouldn't take h's i.v. out until he peed...and they wouldn't let us leave until he peed. so....we sat....and sat....and sat....and waited...and waited....and waited.....

for over three hours....

until finally.....he peed! :)

after three hours of bad cartoons, and a day of no food for josh, mom, or myself....we were starving and more than ready to go home! we'd never been more excited for pee!

ready to go home!!

he and sergie enjoyed the wheel chair ride out to the car!

hudson threw up a lot on the way home, and he was so sleepy....but he was such a trooper!

the whole day just couldn't have gone any better. we are SOOOO grateful and SOOOO thankful to the Lord!!! when we pray....He hears and He answers!!

*several times throughout the day, i thought about families who "live" at the hospital....with children going through difficult things like cancer and disease. i cannot imagine such a thing. i was reminded to be SO thankful for the health of my boys...and i was reminded to pray for those families and children.*

Want a Good Laugh??

I kept hearing about Jon Acuff....and I finally decided to pick up his book- Stuff Christians Like- while I was browsing one night at the Bible book store! I stood there, flipping through it and laughing, in the middle of the aisle...and I was instantly hooked! I took the book, along with a few other items, up to the register, whereupon seeing the book, the male clerk started cracking up! He opened it up and started recounting all the funny parts to the other clerk and I. (I was laughing, he was laughing, we all were laughing. All we needed was some ice cream. Okay, sorry.) Josh was waiting for me in the car, so I hopped in and started reading to him. I'll admit....he didn't laugh quite as hard as I did. But, he's a "tough crowd" sorta guy. Josh is funny, witty, and dry...so it takes a lot to get a laugh out of him.

Anyhow, I let Leah borrow the book and she thought it was funny. Of course, some parts are funnier than others. I haven't read the whole thing, but it's a fun book to just pick up, read a bit here and there, and see what catches your eye.

Here's a little sample:

USING "LET ME PRAY ABOUT IT" AS A EUPHEMISM FOR "NO"

I love when someone asks us to help out at church and instead of saying, "No," we say, "Let me pray about it." Really? I asked you to help me clean up tomorrow night after youth group, and you feel like that's something you need to run past the Savior of the world? He's going to give you the thumbs-up or thumbs-down on whether or not you can help me stack chairs for seven minutes?

Anyhow, I just wanted to share this fun, little book with ya. :) Enjoy!

A "Must See!"

My mom sent me the link to this site and I highly recommend it...especially if you have little ones. It's live footage of a bald eagle and her eaglets. So cool!! Sometimes, she's just sitting on them, while other times you'll see the "dad" on the nest, too. The eaglets are ADORABLE...and it's so fun to watch.

Here you go:

www.wvec.com/marketplace/microsite-content/eagle-cam.html

ENJOY!!

I gotta run, but since I tend to "find" God in His nature/creation, I will have to tell you about a little conversation that Bryson and I had! :)