Creation Pics

Calvary

I was looking forward to sleeping in this morning, but woke up early and couldn't go back to sleep. I didn't know what to do with my morning off and then it dawned on me, why do I have this morning off? It's not simply a day for offices and schools to shut down, but it's the day our Savior went to the Cross! It's the day He took our sin. It's the day He took our punishment upon Himself. It was the day He endured the shame of the Cross to bring His people back to Himself. I read a blog from John Piper this morning and this is what he said:

"Before there was any human sin to die for, God planned for His Son to be slain for sinners. Our names were "written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain." (Rev. 13:8) God planned from eternity that the revelation of His glory would be the ultimate reason for creating the universe. This glory would be supremely displayed in God's grace. This grace would be supremely glorified in Jesus. And the apex of that glorification in Jesus would be reached when He was slain to save a people who would spend an eternity magnifying the greatness of that grace. In other words the universe was created for the glorification of God's grace on Calvary, echoing through eternity the Christ-exalting joys of the redeemed."

So thankful for my God, my Savior that He chose to die for me, a sinner condemed and unclean.

Then I spent the rest of my relaxing morning playing with my new camera and taking pictures of Creation. I'm a dork, I know! (Pics on next blog)

We are His Treasured Possession

So I've done it again...waited way too long to update our life and now there's a million things to write about. If I could write only a few words to describe the past month it would say something like...relaxing, refreshing and absolutely blessed!!

We celebrated our 3 yr wedding anniversary and my wonderful husband planned a surprise date to the Reunion Tower. The sweetest part of it though was that a few months back while driving thru Dallas I had made a comment about wanting to always go there for dinner and HE REMEMBERED!!! So we went into the office for a few hrs that morning, then he took me to lunch (Chick-fila, my fav), then we went on a 12 mile bike ride together and then when we got home to get ready for our surprise date all he told me was "get dressed up real pretty, like I know you like to do." He knows me so well. Anytime I can put on stiletto heels, lots of make-up and a pretty dress, I'm happppy!! We enjoyed the luxuries of valet parking, fine (expensive) dining and the beautiful lights of Dallas. It was a memorable anniversary...we talked about our future with kids and how dates like this will NEVER happen again so we might as well enjoy them now, we laughed at the ridiculous prices and fru-fru food we were eating, we shared some of our most beloved memories thus far of our past 5 yrs of knowing each other and some of the reasons we love each other more today than we did the day we got married. I'm so blessed the Lord chose Jacob to be my lifetime partner and I'm equally as blessed that we can share in His blessings together for a lifetime!

We also had our usual Wednesday nights, Spring Break activities and community outreach events! And as we always do at the end of every youth event we sit back and say, "What a blessing to be able to be a part of each one of these kids lives!" God doesn't need us as humans at all to do His work, it's a privilege to serve Him and walk alongside these kids as they grow up, learn and mature in their relationship with Christ.

Getting everything ready for Evangelism in the local park The kids getting ready to share Christ with our community Worshiping with the kids We also had a wonderful weekend with my family at the beginning of April. We all met up in Tyler, Tx and the girls stayed in a hotel, shopped, ate a yummy restaurants and talked, talked, talked while the guys went camping, fishing and doing whatever nasty stuff boys do :) It was so fun to spend time with all the sisters and my mom and just hang out with no agenda...it was so relaxing! And I think the boys had a fun time just hanging out by the fire, fishing and talking about whatever guys talk about. Hopefully it will become an annual Prescott tradition!

We went on the Azalea Trails And we were stupid pretty much the whole time Then we met up with the guys for dinner before we all parted ways Then the next weekend we went to Galveston for Jacob's 1/2 Ironman with his cousin Jr., his wife Heather and their kids. We went to the aquarium, hung out on the beach (although very cloudy), went out to dinner, hung out with the kids while their mommy and daddy finally got to go on a date and then of course THE RACE! I'm so stinkin' proud of my husband even though at the end of every race he's disappointed in himself. Swimming for 1.2 miles, biking for 56 miles and then running 13.2 miles is an insane amount for your body to endure and I'm pretty sure a very, VERY small % of people can even accomplish that in their lifetime!!! Of course the one day we were there the sun came out so he had to battle the heat and wind while I ran all over the place trying to find him at different points during his race and got a nasty sunburn. I got to take lots a great action pictures of him though with my wonderful new camera he bought us for our anniversary. It has sport mode on it so I can click away and get great action shots. I love, love, love my new camera and am so thankful to our sweet friend Todd for selling it to us at a huge discounted price. We are constantly blessed by others helping us or giving things to us and while it's hard for Jacob to swallow his pride sometimes, we feel so incredibly blessed to be helped/taken care of (even down to the small, seemingly unimportant things) by the body of Christ. We have been given couches, tables, beds, desks...pretty much our whole house has been furnished by people in our church or family. The only pieces of furniture we have bought are the couches in our front room ($200 for both on CraigsList) and the kitchen table, which when we took it to the check out ended up being 1/2 off. I'm telling you GOD IS FAITHFUL!! I love seeing His hand at work in our lives and while it might only be a camera or a gently used couch for our youth kids or beautiful rug (although not important in the grand scheme of life) He is so faithful to provide for even our desires! I stand in awe of His faithfulness and love for His people that not only did He provide a way for us, save us from death, call us into a relationship with Him, but He blesses our earthly lives as well!!

At the Aquarium with the kids The 1/2 Ironman Having fun on the beach Deuteronomy 7:6-7;9 ~The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be His people, His treasured possession. The Lord did not set His affection on you and choose you bc you were more numerous than other peoples...But it was because the Lord loved you. Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commands.