My Mommy and Daddy!

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I Love This Picture!

Girl's Night

Ryan is out of town on a men's retreat so I had some girls over for a girls night! Girls plus adorable Jacob! Don't you love that big grin?! Rylie liked it! (sorry Daddy!) Rylie and Wendy shared a yummy cupcake, at least the frosting anyway! Mandi, Keren, Becky, Rachel, and Wendy all came over to spend time with Rylie and I. Gotta love girls night!

Skating Party

No broken bones! We had so much fun! Rylie was incredible. This was her first time on roller skates. I was anticipating that she would be scared and slip and fall and not like it. But, she took to it right away! She didn't even want me to hold her hand. She headed right for the rink and didn't look back. She loved it! She did want our friend, Wendy (my oldest friend!) to skate with her a few times. She did the Hokey Pokey and the Bird Dance too! She skated with her friend Kayleigh (who's also two) and danced with her and of course they hugged each other a lot too. There was lots of good food (which Rylie didn't have time to eat, she had skating to do!), and good fellowship. Luke even got in on the action!

The last I heard on my Grandma was that she came out of surgery fine and they only had to do the Lumpectomy instead of a Mastectomy. That's all I know for now. Thanks for your prayers!

Thursday Thoughts

Thursday Thoughts will be a little shorter this week because we don't have Flock Group tonight. Usually, I want to share things I've learned from our Flock Group study, but tonight in lieu of Flock Group, we have an all church potluck and roller skating event. It should be a lot of fun. Hopefully, I'll have pictures to post later on tonight. (That is if I don't have a broken leg, they shouldn't allow clumsy people to have wheels on their feet!)

My first thought was from Women's Bible study this morning. As I mentioned in my previous post, my Mom (who normally teaches) is with my Grandma today, so I taught Bible study. My Mom is teaching through the book of 1 Chronicles so it fell to me today, to teach chapter 22. I had only a little bit of time to study and I'm also sick, so my brain didn't feel like getting into gear. But, my Pastor of a husband let me sound him out and helped me come to some focused ideas. I won't teach you the whole lesson, but instead tell you the main point of it. The chronicler reports to us in this chapter, that David wants to build a Temple for God, but God denies him and instead wants David's son, Solomon to build it. (2 Samuel 7 reveals more of what God said to David about this through the prophet Nathan.) So, David, humbly makes preparations for Solomon to build the Temple. Long story, short, the point that I emphasized with the Ladies was that, when God has other plans for you they are always better. David desired to do something good for God, he had good intentions and good motivations, but God told him "no". Instead of doing it anyway, or getting bitter or angry, David humbly goes along with God's plan. God had a bigger plan for David and his family (the Davidic covenant), including Solomon, that was better that David's plan. Sometimes we might have a good plan, but God says "no". We need to realize that God is sovereign and has a bigger plan, that is always better than our plan. How do we respond to that? In Acts 16:6-10, the Apostle Paul was faced with a similar circumstance. He desired to go to Asia to preach the Gospel. This was a good plan, but God said "no". Instead, God wanted him to go to Macedonia to preach the Gospel. Paul humbly obeyed and was able to do a far bigger and better ministry. He was able to start churches in places like Phillipi, Corinth, etc. (By the way, we benefited from this to as we now have the letters, Philippians, Corinthians, etc.) God's way is always better than our way!

In my devotions I've been reading through the Psalms. I was convicted that so often when I read the Bible, I respond to what I've read by thinking about all the areas I've been failing and how I need to do these other things instead. Which is good, there are frequent references to put ons and put offs ( like the Colossians passage I keep talking about), but I was turning it into more of a task oriented thing, than a relationship thing. I realized I need to be reading the Bible, not only for how to live, but also as a way of communicating with my Heavenly Father and as a way of building that relationship with Him. So, I decided to spend some time in the Psalms, to just focus on my God. Today, I read Psalm 18 and I wanted to share a few verses from there that struck me as very comforting today. Verses 30-31, 46, "As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him. For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock except our God. The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my Savior!"

And then from this weeks Valley of Vision prayer: "O fountain of all good, destroy in me every lofty thought, break pride to pieces and scatter it to the winds, annihilate each clinging shred of self-righteousness, implant in me true lowliness of spirit, abase me to self-loathing and self-abhorrence, open in me a fount of penitential tears, break me, then bind me up; thus will my heart be a prepared dwelling for my God; then can the Father take up his abode in me, then can the blessed Jesus come with healing in his touch, then can the Holy Spirit descend in sanctifying grace; o holy Trinity, three Persons and one God, inhabit me, a temple consecrated to thy glory." Vastly different from the self esteem movement of today!

Sunny Days, Taking The Clouds Away. . .

It is such a beautiful day in the Pacific Northwest! The sun is shining and it is warm, it actually feels like Spring! Rylie and I had a picnic outside on the very lawn that I used to play on with my little brother, when we were kids. It was great fun to eat outside (with the Robins, as Rylie said) and reminisce at the same time enjoying my precious little girl. Afterwards, we came to Grandma and Grandpa's house to take a nap (neither were here, Grandma is with her Mom who is having her surgery right now, updates to come). Rylie wanted more of the outdoors so, we ran around in the grass for a little while. She picked a leaf and said "A flower for you, Mommy"! It was the first flower (leaf, but it was the same to her), that she's ever picked for me! It was so sweet! Maybe, you have to be a mom to understand, but it was very precious to me. She has such a tender heart, after she picked more leaves (and a real flower), she said "Thanks, Jesus for flower"! It is wonderful to hear her little heart! I had told her in the past that the rain is to give the flowers and leaves and trees drinks of water, because they like to drink water just like her. She found a dried up old leaf and ran over to a puddle of water and put it in and said to it, "drink your water". Then she did the same with a purple pansy. It made me think that we get dried up and flaky just like the leaf and we need to run to the Living Water. And, even when we're flourishing like the purple pansy, we still need to drink from that eternal well, lest we get dried up again. Valuable lessons from a toddler!

Email Luke Update From Pam

Hello again! We went to Luke's pre-op appt yesterday. They did an ultrasound of his heart, drew labs, and did a chest x-ray. As far as we know all of that was fine. We met Dr. Woods, the surgeon, and Kayla, his nurse. They were both very nice and seemed confident that the surgery would go as planned. The surgery will be Thursday April 5th. We have to arrive at 5:30 am, they will take him from us at 7 am and start the sedation and intubate him. The surgery will actually start at 8 am. They will be doing the surgery between the ribs which is not going to be horribly painful, like we had originally thought. He will do a 3 inch incision under his arm by his shoulder blade and spread the ribs but since they are very pliable at his age, they won't brake or cause much pain at all. He will be just cutting the artery and leaving it. Luke will have a tube coming out of his incision for drainage which will come out before he leaves the hospital. They expect him to be in the PICU at Mary Bridge for 2-5 days. Everything sounds like it should be no problem which I will be telling myself over and over again as I hand him to the surgical team. So, at this point, please just pray that everything goes as planned and that it won't be too traumatic for Matt, Abby, or me. Luke is a trooper and I know he will do just fine... He has been through worse! Thank you all for your prayers and offers to help out where we need it. We love and appreciate all of you!
Pamela

Wordless Wednesday! (It's almost opening day!)

Care Bear Love

I read my friend Stephanie's recent post (see Creaturebug [Finding Joy] link under "My Favorite Blogs" on the left side of the page) and it inspired me to take these pictures. It is such a joy to watch and listen to my little girl playing. It has been so fun to see her grow in her imaginative play. I hear and see parts of how she views me when she plays Mommy to her dolls and more recently, her Care Bears. Which, by the way, is her new favorite toy! Her and Daddy went shopping and brought home Best Friend Bear for Rylie and Tender Heart Bear for Mommy! She was so sweet and picked one out for me (which I have to carry around the house with me otherwise she brings it to me and says, "for you Mommy".)

There are times when it's hard to be a Mommy. It can be tiring and sometimes thankless. It really does bring my heart joy to hear my darling daughter laugh and twirl and hug and talk. It is pure innocence and there is nothing sweeter (well, almost nothing, when she talks to Jesus or when she tells me she loves me-those are pretty darn sweet too!). She has brought so much delight to my life and I am very thankful for her!

Pictures From Our Busy Weekend

Jenaya! Chantal!

Becky and Pam!
Madison!

We had a fun, but busy weekend. It started out with Ryan and Rylie playing their guitars together. She wants to be like her Daddy. Saturday we celebrated Madison's first Birthday! Madison and her family are very good friends of ours. Then I had the privilege of throwing a Bridal Shower for my adopted little sister (and friend), Rachel! Then, we went to Becky and Aaron's house. The guys watched a movie, and us girls made spring wreaths (except for Jenaya, who colored instead). I didn't have a chance to finish my wreath yet, so I'll show you all a picture of it when I'm done. After church on Sunday Rylie and I went out to lunch with the fam and Jenaya and Rachel (Ryan had to do some counseling with a couple). Sunday evening we heard a great report from a family that is planning on going to Chile to be missionaries. A very full and fun weekend!

Pregnancy Buddies

My friend, Apryl, moved to Virginia last fall. Today she emailed me with this picture she found of us two and a half years ago, when we were pregnancy buddies! Now our babies are two years old! Justus and Rylie had a lot of fun together when they lived here!

Thoughts on God's Sovereignty and Worship

I wanted to share with you part of the Valley of Vision prayer that I read tonight regarding God's sovereignty: "O Lord God, who inhabits eternity, the heavens declare thy glory, the earth thy riches, the universe is thy temple, thy presence fills immensity, yet thou hast of thy pleasure created life, and communicated happiness; thou hast made me what I am, and given me what I have; In thee I live and move and have my being; thy providence has set the bounds of my habitation and wisely administers all my affairs." I also read Psalm 16 and vs. 5-6 reminded me of God's sovereignty as well, " Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. " Isn't it an incredible thought that the sovereign God of the universe, "wisely administers all my affairs"?!
My chapter this week in my Disciplines of a Godly Woman book is dealing with the discipline of worship. I hadn't thought about worship as a discipline I need to have in my life. The author points out that worship isn't something we do only on Sunday mornings during the song time. Worship is something that we do every day in those moments that we are obeying and serving the Lord. We need to worship in spirit and in truth, which means that we need to have a knowledge of this God that we are worshipping. And where does that come from? From being in His Word and letting it daily renew our mind (Rom. 12:1-2). Worship must come from the inside out. It's not just an external activity, it's an internal fountain that bubbles forth in praise to God. It is simply not enough to stand there on Sunday mornings and sing the songs half heartedly while thinking about what the lunch plans are or if your child is being good in the nursery! (yes, I'm guilty of this!) An aspect that the author brings up is unity. Worship can evoke unity in the Body. She used a quote from A.W. Tozer that I wanted to share with you: "Has is ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to one standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshippers meet together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be were they to become 'unity' conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship."

Before I Was A Mom Poem (Thanks Karen!)

Before I was a Mom
I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom - I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom
I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests.
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom
I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to
put them down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I
couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small could affect my life so
much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom -
I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so
important and happy.

Before I was a Mom -
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every
10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache,
the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a
Mom.

Thursday Thoughts

I think this might be quite a long post, as I have had several thoughts going about my head especially after the wonderful Flock Group discussion we had this evening. So, bear with me!

I want to, once again, highly recommend the book, Valley of Vision, A Collection of Puritan Prayers. It is extremely thought provoking and insightful. It produces a sense of awe about our great God. It is published by Banner of Truth Trust and is available on Amazon (in case anyone was wondering). The prayer I read today was again wonderful and I want to share it with you, but I think this post will be long enough, so I'll save it for another time.

In my devotions, I read Psalm 15. It is the one that asks the question, "who can dwell in your sanctuary?" etc. I was especially convicted by two of the verses. The first one answers the question "He who casts no slur on his fellow man." This is something that the Holy Spirit convicted me of in Flock Group a few weeks ago and then again today. I have really been working on not gossipping, but this is a little different. It reminds me to not talk about anyone in a way that sheds a negative light on them. It might not be telling someone something that is not true about someone else, but, as I shared a couple of weeks ago, it is asking myself "is this kind? Is is it necessary?" etc. The other verse that grabbed my attention answered the question by saying, "He who keeps his oath, even when it hurts". This was convicting because when things become difficult or even uncomfortable, I give up. I am lacking in the area of perseverance. This is something I really want to work on, but I have to admit, I get discouraged because it feels hopeless. I know the key word there is "feels" because I know with God's power it's not hopeless, but it is a struggle for me. Is it for anyone else?

Ryan made a good statement tonight that struck me, "I am kept saved based on God's sovereignty, not based on my own merit." Praise the Lord!

In Flock Group we had a rabbit trail about prayer. Once again, my wonderful husband shared some wisdom on the subject. We discussed the question that people often have, "If God is sovereign, why should I pray?". He brought out the transverse of that, "If God isn't sovereign, why should I pray?" I never thought about it that way before. God is transcendent and imminent. He is sovereign and yet personal. His choices will always be right. He can see everything (the big picture) and He has ultimate wisdom. But, we can still go to Him and plead with Him and talk with Him in a very personal way. God's sovereignty should lead to greater passion in our prayers. Isn't that incredible to think about?!

Romans 12:2 talks about how the battle is in the mind. So, we need to be renewing our minds daily by being in the Word. My daily devotional book reminded me that I need quiet time with God. We don't have much quiet time in our busy technological world. As I was reading that reminder, my t.v. was on, my computer was on, and someone was text messaging me on my phone! I realized I really need to turn everything off and spend quiet time with the Lord so I can really focus on my relationship with Him and not just go through the motions. I would appreciate if you all would hold me accountable to that and ask me how I'm doing.

We have been trying to train Rylie to immediately obey us. The Holy Spirit brought to my attention that I am expecting that from her, but I am not responding that way to God, my Heavenly Father. In fact, I am rather blase (yes Ryan, blase), about my obedience to Him. I was wondering why that is and I immediately thought it's because I don't have someone right there telling me what to do or admonishing me when I disobey. But then I realized that's an excuse! I have the Holy Spirit to convict me and to empower me to obey. I have God's Word that tells me what God expects and how to obey. And, I have other Christians to encourage me and to hold me accountable! So, really I don't have any excuse! I serve a Holy God and He expects Holiness from me!

I realized that I have not been praying for Rylie like I ought. I pray for her when something is wrong with her (i.e.: sick, etc.), but I haven't been praying for her future salvation, her character, future spouse, etc. What a privilege I have to spend all my time with her, I need to be praying for her, I certainly think about her enough. I do thank the Lord for her. She really is a blessing to us!

I was going to share with you some things I learned from our Colossians study, but I think this post is long enough and my thoughts random enough for one night! If you have time read Col.3:12-17 and we'll discuss it in a later post!

Thank you all for listening to my Thursday thoughts!

New Swimsuit, Grandma News

We love hand-me-downs! A Grandmother in our church, gave us two big bags of clothes the other day. Rylie was very excited to see this Winnie the Pooh swimsuit! She's been wanting to go swimming so today we had a swimming meet in our very own Olympic size swimming pool/bathtub! She had great fun and needless to say, Mommy got quite wet from the furiously kicking/swimming legs. She wanted to show Daddy her new swimsuit (and the ensuing towel baby), so we took pictures.

My Grandma had another MRI and a biopsy on the new lump they found. They don't have the results back yet, but the Doctor said it looks suspicious. Thankfully it's on the same breast, so at least it hasn't spread anywhere else. If this new lump does come back malignant, then she won't have a choice if she'll have a mastectomy or a lumpectomy, she'll have to have the mastectomy. She has surgery scheduled for next Thursday. Please pray for her and my Grandpa's salvation!

Wordless Wednesday! (a day late, but celebrating the first day of Spring!)

Pam's Email Update About Luke

Hello everyone! Yesterday was Luke's appointment with the cardiologist. The doctor basically just gave us more detail to what we already knew. He said that one of the 4 main arteries (the one that supplies blood to the right arm) that comes off of the aorta is in the wrong place on Luke. 1-2% of the population has this genetic defect but only 5% of those that have the defect need to have corrective surgery. Luke is one of those that needs to have it corrected in order to eat solid food. So they will be removing the artery that is in the wrong place. They don't need to relocate it because little babies like Luke will just adapt to the missing artery and the other vessels in that area will eventually become larger to get the amount of blood necessary to the arm to keep it healthy. He shouldn't have any deficits in that arm at all except for the lack of a brachial pulse since the artery will no longer be there. The cardiac surgeon that will be doing the surgery is Dr. Woods and it will be done in Tacoma at Mary Bridge. The surgery will be a very straight forward one with little risk of complications. The surgeon will go in in one of 3 ways. Their first choice is to make 2 or 3 small incisions and use a scope to do the surgery. The other options are to either cut down the front of his chest (which leaves a nasty scar) or to go between the ribs and spread them (which is very painful for recovery). We will meet with the surgeon and his team on March 27th and they will let us know what their plan is at that time. His surgery is scheduled for Thursday April 5th at 8 am. We are excited to get this taken care of and get on with life but at the same time we know that it will be hard to watch him go through this and it will bring back tough memories of when he was a newborn in the NICU. We are thankful to everyone for your prayers, cards, and all the support that you have given us. I know that Luke is in the Lord's hands and I take great comfort in knowing that what ever happens in his life the Lord will never leave his side. Thank you all again!

Luke and Grandma

Luke had his big cardiologist appointment today. When Pam sends me her email update I will post that. She can explain it all much better than I can. Suffice it to say, he will have the surgery, and we don't have a date for it yet. Praise the Lord, there is nothing else wrong with his heart. The rest is complex, and I will let Pam tell you in her own words.
Grandma got the results of her MRI. They found another lump in the same breast that the first lump was found in. Tomorrow they will do an MRI of that and possibly a biopsy of the new lump. If it is cancerous, then she will have to have a mastectomy instead of a lumpectomy. They did a full body scan and found a white spot on her thyroid. Years ago, she had a noncancerous tumor removed from her thyroid, so there not sure if the white area is scar tissue or possibly another cancerous site.
So, please continue to pray for both of them!

Random Thoughts For The Day

Me: Who is good all the time?
Rylie: Jesus! Never Bad! (with a shake of her head)

Rylie: Mommy, Mommy, Mommy! (running to Auntie Pam)
Me: Aren't I your Mommy?
Rylie: No, Auntie Pam Mommy! (Little stinker!)

Me: Who made the trees?
Rylie: Mommy did?
Me: No, not Mommy.
Rylie: Jesus!

Have you ever heard cats mating? It sounds eerily human! Like an Indian chant or something. Very creepy. The house next door to house is vacant at the moment, other than the multitude of neighborhood cats who have made it their abode. And apparently it's a pretty swingin' place. Ryan has discovered that the best way to shut them up is to open the door while the alarm is on. This serves very well to scare the cats away as well as the neighbors and set my adrenaline pumping. As for Rylie, she doesn't even budge!

We had an Australian missionary that is serving in China come speak at our Evening Service tonight. It was so exciting to hear how God is working there (and also in Thailand)! People who have previously never heard the Gospel are getting saved. The government is also becoming not as opposed to the open teaching of God's Word. As long as the Christians aren't speaking out politically, they are being pretty lenient. God is great!

In my devotions today I was struck with the thought that when we sin we need to confess our sin to the Lord (and to the other person, if we sinned against someone else), and then leave it. We don't need to wallow in our guilt and keep rehashing it in our mind. This I knew, but what struck me tonight was that it is a sin to ignore the grace of God and His forgiveness. I hate it when people say, "I know God forgave me, but I have to forgive myself". No, you don't! Are you more powerful than God? Or more important than God? Of course not! If God in His infinite mercy and grace forgives you , then you are forgiven, period! It was a good reminder to me!

I am a person who struggles with the sin of worrying. Becky, Sarah, and I are memorizing Phil. 4:8 ("Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is right, whatever is noble, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is excellent or praiseworthy , think about such things."), which is a good reminder of what I need to think about instead of dwelling on whatever it is that I am worrying about. I came across this verse in Deuteronomy (31:8) that I am going to meditate on also whenever I'm worrying, "The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed."

I love that my husband has such a deep mind and loves to study the truths of God's Word. He also likes to read the writings of other such men. He has given me (and others) the gift of a book called, The Valley of Vision, a Collection of Puritan Prayers. I was reading one of the prayers tonight and I wanted to share with you two thoughts from the prayer entitled, God the All.
"I rejoice to think that all things are at thy disposal, and it delights me to leave them there. Then prayer turns wholly into praise, and all I can do is to adore and bless thee."
"I know that thou art the author and finisher of faith, that the whole work of redemption is thine alone, that every good work or thought found in me is the effect of thy power and grace, that thy sole motive in working in me to will and to do is for thy good pleasure." Isn't that rich?!
Well, enough random thoughts for today! Goodnight!

Luke Reminder And Other Thoughts

Just a reminder that Luke's big appointment with with cardiologist is on Monday. He will have an EKG and an Ultrasound of his heart as well as the consultation with the cardiologist. His surgery will be scheduled after this appointment. Please pray that the Doc will have wisdom in planning for the surgery and that they don't discover any other problems with Luke's little heart.
My friend, Angela, recently had her Pay Pal account broken into. They wracked up nineteen hundred dollars worth of charges through EBay. They somehow also got into her email account and threatened her life if she didn't change the password back. They deleted all her email messages and sent emails to other people. They proved to her that they had her personal information, her address, her pin numbers, etc. The police are working with her, but it was very scary. Just a warning to people out there to be very careful and check your charges frequently. Thankfully she caught it on the same day that they stole it, but it still caused all kinds of problems.
I have a conflict with someone that I need to resolve, but I don't feel like doing it. Ryan and I were discussing it on Thursday night on the way to Flock Group. Then when we started to do our Flock Group study, I read the verses in Colossians that we were studying that evening. They were Colossians 3:12-17. The Holy Spirit really convicted me! You should definitely read those verses. Now, I know what I have to do!
I forgot to add a text with my St. Patrick's Day pictures! We spent the day at Matt and Pam's for their annual corned beef and cabbage dinner. (Thanks Pam!) Rylie and Abby enjoyed being able to spend the whole day together. Pam and I went through all of their old baby clothes and reorganized them (I'm going to store them in case we ever have another baby), and got rid of a bunch of them. We're giving them to a first time mom who was pregnant with quadruplets, but lost one, and is now pregnant with triplets. :( Seeing some of those little garments brought back so many memories of when Rylie was a little baby! As I pulled out her elephant shirt I could see her in her swing and hear her very first laugh! I remembered her first pool party with her little bikini, her first Easter dress, and so on and so on. So many memories in only two years! (Thanks to Aunt Sarah/TeeTee for Rylie's St. Patrick's Day shirt!)
Congratulations to my friend Davina. Baby Emily Drew was born yesterday at 11:30 am! Mom and baby are both healthy and doing well!

St. Patrick's Day Pictures

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!!!

Thursday Thoughts

This is a quote from Geoffrey Thomas that I found written in my husband's Bible:
"Do not expect to master the Bible in a day, or a month, or a year. Rather expect often to be puzzled by its contents. It is not all equally clear. Great men of God often feel like absolute novices when they read the Word. The Apostle Peter said that there were some things hard to understand in the Epistles of Paul. I'm glad he wrote those words because have felt that often. Let the Word break over your heart and mind again and again as the years go by, and imperceptibly there will come great changes in your attitude and outlook and conduct. You will probably be the last to recognize these. Often you will feel very, very small, because increasingly the God of the Bible will become to you wonderfully great. So, go on reading it until you can read it no longer, and then you will not need the Bible anymore, because when your eyes close for the last time in death, and never again read the Word of God in Scripture you will open them to the Word of God in the Flesh, the same Jesus of the Bible whom you have known for so long, standing before you to take you forever to His eternal home."

One More Wordless Wednesday Picture

Wordless Wednesday (Abby as a sunkissed baby)

Our Little Tinkerbell

Thanks to Aunt Elisa for this adorable Tinkerbell costume! Rylie loved flying around the room and she informed us that she was "very pretty"!

I love having a girly girl!

She stayed in her big girl bed all night. She woke up giggling because she was so excited that she was still in it. When I told her how proud I was of her for staying in it all night, she said, "Tell Daddy, tell Daddy, go downstairs, tell Daddy". They had a talk about it before bed last night, so she wanted to make sure he knew she was a good girl!

I want to know who you think should be the next American Idol? I'm really torn right now. I did hear that Jordan Sparks was a Christian. Anyone else hear that? Does anyone actually vote? I never do, only in my heart! What is wrong with Paula? Is it just me, or does it seem like she has a really hard time talking? I guess we'll have to wait till tomorrow to hear what the rest of America thought!

Big Girl Bed!

I can't believe my baby is out of the crib and in her big girl toddler bed! She was very excited about it, Ryan and I, not so much! One of the last marks of babyhood is gone. She did get a little sad when Daddy was taking her crib apart, "no Daddy, it's broken". She thought it was great fun to jump up on her new bed though!

She drew her first circle today! That may not be that exciting to some, but it is something her and I have been working on for awhile now. It was so rewarding to see that her hard work paid off. She received a princess table for her Birthday(thanks Grandma and Pappa), that has become her new favorite spot. She sat there and colored for 35 min. (thanks Dan and Sara for the art bin!). We also practiced her letters, colors, numbers, and shapes. It is so much fun to watch her little mind grow!

We had a race outside and decorated the sidewalk with her new sidewalk paint. She showed me how she can hop like a bunny and laid in the grass and told me how she "likes grass, Jesus made it". All in all, it was a very productive second day as a two year old!

More Birthday Pictures

Here's some more pictures from the big Dora party!