You asked for it...

Someone, ahem, I won't name names, has mentioned that I haven't blogged in awhile. :-) It's true. Often I look at the blog and an idea perculates, but either I don't REALLY have the time to expound...or I'm just being lazy.

Even now, I don't have one singular topic to fill an entire post...so you may have the randomness that is floating through my brain...

Weeds- We've successfully weeded the dandelions out of our yard. It has been a major feat, and Dave has taken it quite personally. He has spent the better part of the last week leaned over our yard, popping dandelions out. He comes in each day with a 5 gallon bucket full, feeling vindicated...until the next day when more pop up. The kids and I helped one day, and it is actually quite gratifying. Think of it like popping a zit, without the scarring and redness afterward. I loved ridding the grass of those pesky weeds so that the good stuff can actually grow. It's funny how you can draw so many spiritual parallels to gardening. This was one of those times. It made me ponder what weeds I needed to pluck in my own life, so that the healthy grass could grow.

Gardening- To stay on the theme, we planted some seeds the other day in a "starter kit". This is actually our first experience with this, and already we are seeing the seedlings pop up. It's a neat science experiment for the kids. We have lots of different kinds of flowers and I can't wait until they are blooming in our garden. You may draw your own spiritual paralells here.

P90X- More like P40G for me. I "like" to do the cardio with Dave (mostly Kenpo, CardioX, and Core). After doing Core, I basically can't more for about 4 days. When I say "like", I mean I like the results when I do it consistently. I'm trying to do it 2-3 times a week. That feels a reasonable goal for me. Meanwhile, after two kids...jumping jacks are still not my friends.

Sunshine- I'm SO over the rain. Too much of it makes me grumpy and surly. The fact that the sun is actually shining as I write this, brings me much joy. Unfortunately, it's supposed to rain more today. Grr. A thunderstorm, I like. Incessant rain, I do not.

The Royal Wedding- Um, so NOT over it. I will SO be one of the millions of viewers tuned into watch the wedding of Will and Kate. Yes, I even watched the Lifetime movie. It was terribly made, but I at least caught up on a little of the back story, if it can be believed (I'm not THAT obsessed). I like to think of it as I'm watching a piece of history in the making.

My kids-They're hilarious these days. I love listening to their stories and how they are becoming little big people. I swear Noah is 4 going on 25. It's hard to believe that he turns 5 in a few weeks. Callie still loves playing pretend. She gets this really high-pitched voice when she is in character. It's so cute to listen to.

I will try to do better at keeping this puppy posted...but comments to let me know you're there would probably encourage me to know that someone actually still reads this. :-)

Thanks Tiffany for kicking my butt into gear. :-)

Feeling Springy

Dave's brother and sister-in-law came for a visit this week, along with their two adorable kids (who are close in age to our two monkeys). It was a great visit and the weather sure cooperated with us. We spent most of the day outside yesterday. We played, the boys fished, caught frogs and a turtle even, grilled out, and just relaxed. We had such a good time. The kids all did well sharing (for the most part) and got along pretty well with each other too. Now, they're headed back and we're bummed that they had to go. I added some pics below of some of our fun.

Mike and Laura...aren't they cute? :-)



The brothers taking the kids for a paddleboat ride.



I think this is the first turtle we've actually caught. We've seen a few in the pond before though.




Noah and Daddy with their first frog of the season. Dave caught it on his very first hit. They're still moving a little slower this time of year. :-)

Bathroom update

Before




After



I'm in project mode. Big time. I was looking at our bathroom to see what ways I can update it without spending a lot of money (aka new vanity, toilet, bathtub). So, for $30...or $2 out of pocket after using our menards rebates, and a little bit of time, we have a more modern looking bathroom. All I did was paint the cabinets and added some new pulls. I love it and so does Dave. Cheap elegance. :-)

Kid pics

Balloon animals!







I still love catching pics of them sleeping. They're so peaceful and adorable.




Dave is doing P90X. He was taking before pictures...Noah also wanted to take before pictures. :-)

Prayer

This morning Tony talked on prayer. It was a really good sermon. His text was Matthew 6:5-15. As he was talking I was encouraged to pick up my own prayer life. What would it look like to pray fervently? To have my own prayer closet where I can cry out to God? With kids, this can sometimes be complex, but I think that after they go to bed, I can choose to spend more time praying instead of watching tv. Hold me accountable on this, will you?

A lot of people responded for prayer this morning. It was wonderful to see God moving in so many ways. Afterwards, my friend Kristin came up and mentioned that during worship she felt a really strong urge to pray for me. So, she did. It started out so simple, but by the end I was a puddle on the floor with tears and snot all over the place. It was one of those times where you know that the Holy Spirit was in charge and we were just submitting. She prayed for me as leader of prayer team and basically God used her to charge me back up and to give fresh vision. It was also so humbling to be reminded that God has big plans for our church. You don't need to know all the details of what happened...and quite honestly...the most important part for me was just willingly submitting my heart to God. It felt SO good. When we were done, I felt an incredible amount of weight lifted off my shoulders and just immeasurable relief.

I kept thinking over and over. This is why we do this. This is why we listen to the Holy Spirit. Because I didn't really know that I needed prayer...but Kristin was listening to the holy spirit and what resulted was an incredibly encouraging, God driven time, that I really DID need. God knows best. I just love that He allows us to partner with Him in the process.

Callie playing house

I caught Callie playing in her room yesterday and just had to catch it on video. She is so imaginative and hilarious when she's playing. I like the last part too where she is counting some ponytail holders that had fallen on the floor...40, five-ty, 16, etc. Love this kid.

Forsaken

I've been thinking a lot recently about the word "forsaken". When I was prepping lifegroup this last week, the verses we read were about Jesus being forsaken and dying on a cross. As Christians, we have the tendency to throw that word around pretty freely. Jesus was forsaken on a cross and died to save us from our sins. But the truth was, I honestly didn't know what being forsaken truly meant. True, I guessed it was bad, but when I read Matthew 27: 45-54 again...I got it a little more.

Mirriam Webster defines forsake as "to renounce or turn away entirely". So, when Jesus was dying a humiliating, horrible, excruciatingly painful death on a cross with people on the ground mocking him and jeering at him, the worst of it was that God had to turn away. Jesus cries out, "My God, my God why have you forsaken me?" -Matthew 27:46. I can't imagine the pain that God must have felt to not jump in and save his son. To want to so badly, but know that to do so would doom the rest of us forever.

God had to forsake Jesus so that we might have a chance of life. Had he stepped in and saved Jesus, our lives would be forfeit and the justice we rightly deserve would be done.

This whole thought process has been really churning in me about the intensity that God loves us. I've been a christian for a number of years and sometimes I get numb to the very essence of what I believe.

Reading these verses again and letting them soak in...seeing all that God and Jesus, by his death, did to save me and you overwhelms me. I no longer feel numb. The price Jesus paid is not lost on me...and because of that...I freely accept what God has offered: redemption, freedom, mercy, forgiveness.