Wisdom of the Weeds

We spent the day today working in our yard. We weeded, planted, mulched, fertilized, and seeded! And, whew, we're tired! As I was weeding, I was thinking about the weeds and how they can be an object lesson for sin. There are the obvious large, prickly weeds that instantly stand out. These are like those glaring sins that are ever so apparent in our lives, the "biggies". But, then there are those other weeds. These are the weeds that look a little like common grass, that are small, and usually go unnoticed until they take over your flower bed. These are the weeds that (I was surprised to find out) have the deepest roots. I was thinking that's like those sins that aren't as noticeable. They are the more subtle sins but their roots are deep and they do a lot of damage. They may not seem like a big deal at first, they don't look that bad, but they are deceiving, slowly, surely spreading their roots in your life. I was praying that the Holy Spirit would reveal to me the sins in my life that were like these weeds. I'm sure He's going to keep working on my heart revealing more and more sins. One that He brought to my attention was that I have been using business as an excuse for laziness. It's true that I am busy, but it's like that weed. It's not that noticeable, but it's roots are going deep and spreading to the rest of my life. It is definitely an area that I need to work on, I don't want to, but I need to. I think that's all I'll say on that topic right now, it's a little painful on the pride to be admitting this much to you all! I want to share with you excerpts from Ryan's sermon on Sunday night, but I'll do that tomorrow. Suffice it to say, it was amazing!

New Lion!

Rylie is a member of the Toys R Us kids club, so for her Birthday they sent her a $3 gift card. We keep forgetting to use it, until tonight. I asked her if she wanted to go shopping at a toy store. Her eyes got big and she said "yes, I want a lion!". I asked her if she wanted a different toy but she was insistent on a lion, "it's my favorite!". After an hour and a half of searching and playing with almost every toy in the store, Rylie found her lion. "New lion, Mommy!" She promptly gave it a big hug and said, "It loves me!". That cracked me up. She hugged and kissed it the whole way to the check stand. She proudly gave the checker her gift card (after she tried to swipe it in the credit card machine). I asked her if she was hungry for dinner. She said she was and that her lion was hungry too. I inquired of her what kind of food her lion likes to eat and she said, "he eats leaves". I didn't want to tell her how carnivorous lions really are. We got a Jamba Juice ("pineapple one Mommy") and her lion had to have several sips of it (complete with sound effects). She told her lion, "You're lion" and then she changed her voice to a roaring voice and said "You're Rylie" to herself as if she was the lion. It was so cute! Then on the way home she said, "Lion likes to play, jump, jump, jump (as she's making him jump) and he likes to hop, hop, hop". When we pulled into the garage she said, "Lion, we're home, I'll show you Rylie's house". The whole thing was adorable! She was conversing so much tonight, not just talking, but actually conversing. She is a lot of fun to hang around with! We are very blessed!

I should note that she had a lot of fun with her Daddy today too. I had to work and she and Ryan go to have a Daddy day. They also went shopping and bought Flushed Away, a new lamp (which she proudly showed me as soon as I got home), and they surprised me with a new electric hand mixer. It was very nice! When I asked her if they had fun today she yelled a very enthusiastic "yes"!

Thursday Thoughts

My Grandma could still use some prayer. She hasn't started radiation yet, she's waiting for her doctor to set it up. When they did the MRI the last time, they saw something on her thyroid. They weren't sure if it was just scar tissue or more cancer, so Monday, they are going to do a biopsy of her thyroid. Please pray that it's not cancer and most of all for her and my Grandpa's salvation!
We talked in Flock Group tonight about how the focal point of the entire Bible is Christ. He is the theme, it is not about a bunch of rules that we need to follow to be righteous. This is something I know and I would tell you if you asked me what the theme of the Bible is. But, as Ryan was explaining this tonight I was convicted that I have been viewing the Bible as a rule book for quite some time. I have been reading it to find out what I have been doing wrong and what I should be doing instead. I'm missing the whole point when I view the Bible like that. In my heart of hearts, I think I'm scared in a way to read the Bible in light of it being a way to know Christ better. This is something I'll have to figure out and work on. I've really been struck lately that it needs to be about a relationship, not rules. I know I've mentioned this before, but it's something I've known, but haven't put into practice and the Holy Spirit has really been working on me in this area. I think it's easier to follow a set of rules, then to have a relationship that is unknown. It almost feels mystical in a way and requires a lot of faith. I guess that's what it comes down to, I need to have faith that I can have a relationship with the Creator of the Universe and that He can have one with me. It doesn't take as much faith to follow rules. Anyway, I'm on this exciting adventure to deepen my faith and my relationship with the Lord. I feel very vulnerable. Anybody have any wisdom for me?

Wordless Wednesday! (Flowers from my wonderful husband!)

Boating Fun

Yesterday I had a day off! My parents asked if they could keep Rylie overnight on Sunday night and take her out on their new boat on Monday. We were a little reluctant about it, because we miss our girl when she's not there and my family has a history of disasterous debacles whenever there is a family outing. There was the time my brother fell and a stick impaled his calf and he had to have it surgically removed. Then there was the time he broke his arm, or the time my Dad capsized the boat and swallowed a bunch of gasoline from the motor. Or the time the freak windstorm raged through our camp site and a whole tree fell on our car. I could go on and on. When my family goes on vacation, the word spreads quickly and people start praying. So you can see why we weren't quick to let Rylie go on the boat with my family! She had a great day, she loved the boat and cried when it was time to get off. My Dad however, didn't have such a good day. On the maiden voyage of the boat he discovered that the person he bought the boat from had wired the steering wheel backwards so he couldn't steer the boat! Their trip was short, but for Abby and Rylie's first time on a boat, it was magical! They loved it!
Today, while we were shopping Rylie told me, "I'm going to go see Jesus". How do I respond to that? Good and a little wierd! I'm glad she wants to see Him, but I'm not ready for that!
She also said she saw Tinkerbell! "Look Mommy! See Tinkerbell flying in the 'ky!"

My Rylie Girl!

This picture was taken yesterday, before church. I thought she looked adorable in her fancy dress. I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but the dress actually has a coat over it that is fancy like the dress. It came with a hat that she really wanted to wear, but it was too small to cover all that hair. It also came with bloomers that she proudly pulled on and said "big girl panties, just like Abby's". I didn't have the heart to remind her that she was still wearing her pull up under them. She quite enjoyed twirling around like a ballerina and watching her dress flow out. We have a Korean church that meets in our church after our morning services. The pastor and his wife of that church gave this outfit to Rylie for her first birthday, I've been waiting till it fit her. I remember thinking at the time that it would be forever until she could wear it. Now she's big enough! She is repeating everything, whole sentences! I love listening to her talk. She and I stopped at a garage sale yesterday afternoon and found her two new books. She was sitting in her car seat looking at them afterwards and saying, "New books, new books, new Dr. Seuss". I was so surprised, I hadn't told her at all that they were Dr. Seuss! She recognized the style and the picture of the Cat in the Hat (it was "The Cat in the Hat Comes Back"). I guess when Daddy reads her books he always tells her the author and the title. She loves reading and is starting to be interested in longer books now. I went through her bookshelves and pulled out the baby board books to make room for longer books. (I'm planning on doing a lot of garage sailing this summer and that's my favorite place to buy books!) It made me a little sad as I pulled out some of the books that she used to love as a baby. I just had to keep "Good morning Little Bert". That was her absolute favorite! She would have us read it to her over and over again! I love watching her little mind and heart develop! She is such a joy and blessing to us!

My Memory Verse

Philippians 4:5-7
"Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."