Blog Award

Shannon over at Song of My Heart has given my little blog an award. Thank you Shannon so much for the encouragement, considering I have not been in the blog world as active as before. :-) This makes me want to get back to blogging.

I am passing this award along to 2 dear friends new to blogging to encourage them to keep going as well. ;-)

God Gave us Girls

Julie, you have a beautiful gift of writing and I've always admired your transparency with life and motherhood everyday things. So don't stop blogging!

Training Hearts at Home

Ruth, I love the way you speak of your children and your vision for their lives. It challenges me to do the same with mine. So keep blogging!

Here are the rules...

1. Add the award logo to your blog.

2. Add a link to the person who awarded it to you.

3. Add a link to the blogs on your blog.

4. Leave a comment on your award recipients in their blog.

Easter activities

We will start our Easter activities tomorrow. One that I am looking forward to do with the boys is this 10 Plagues activity. Thank you Julie for sharing this with all the FIAR moms! Since last fall the boys and I have been studying the Life of Moses at BSF and I thought this would be a fun way of reviewing the plagues while linking it to Jesus our Passover Lamb.



Julie has tons of great ideas on her blog. We are also borrowing from her the idea of making the Lamb cake for Easter.



We will also read "The Tale of Three Trees" and "Caleb's Colt" (by Jill Briscoe).



I will teach them the hymns "Jesus Paid it all" and "When I survey the wondrous cross".



We will of course read portions of the gospel that speaks of Jesus death and resurrections.



Here's a link to the Easter lapbook we did last year based on the book "The Legend of the Easter Egg".

Sara is 2 months old!

Yesterday was her 2 month check up and here is the latest stats: 10 pounds with 11 oz/22 1/2 inches long. She is right in the 50th percentile. She is growing and changing every minute.

During the day she is not taking as many long naps as before but at night she has slept up to 7 hours!!

Her favorite thing now is to "talk" to anyone who comes near her and of course, she loves to smile.

"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward" Psalm 127

Brotherly Love

I've got two boys at home who are very much in love......

....with their baby sister!!

It was inevitable...she is soooo lovable! :)

Don't you agree?? Just one stare at that tender look in her eyes and we all melt. As you can see...their mama is also very much in love. :)

Rejoicing with the angels!

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. 3 John 4

Last Sunday during bedtime devotion time Caleb told me that he knew he was a sinner and was ready to go to heaven. So I called Brad to the room and we once again shared with him the ABC's of salvation (A=accept you are a sinner B=believe in your heart that Jesus died for your sins C=confess Him as the Savior and Lord of your life) and afterwards Brad led him in a prayer of salvation. Lately we have been more intentional about interceding for our kids and what a joy to see the Lord answering one of our prayers so quickly!!

One verse that has meant a lot regarding our children is Colossians 1:9-10 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

This is our prayer for them. We want their lives to be in an increased measure pleasing to the Lord. I am so thankful that in Caleb's short life he has a real understanding of spiritual matters, at times, far beyond his age. I thank God for his life...what a gift he is to our family. I am thankful that inspite of our imperfect parenting the Lord in His abundant mercy and grace has allowed us to have the joy of seeing one of our kids to come to salvation at a young age. I pray we can nurture his faith and continue to be a model of genuine christian living as the Lord continues to conform us to His will and likeness.

Welcome Caleb to the family of God!! I can't wait to see what the Lord has planned for your life! May you become blameless and innocent, child of God above reproach, in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as light in the world (Phillipians 4:15).

Latest Family Update

"Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!"

Psalm 34:8

I was meditating on this Psalm today (read the entire Psalm if you have a chance today) and I can joyfully declare that we have tasted and seen the goodness of our Lord these past few weeks in our home.

My foot has continued to improve. Now all toes are moving a lot and with stronger muscle contractions. Also my ankle has started to respond and I have a little of motion there as well! I've also regained more sensation on the foot. I no longer need a walker, I am getting by with a 4-prone cane just fine and my leg is much stronger and I can bear more weight on it.

In just a few weeks things have improved a lot!! And we are so thankful to the Lord for his faithfulness to us. I will continue on physical therapy only 2 days a week (which will be a relief for our pocket!) but will in addition do exercise everyday at home to strengthen the leg and preserve muscle function of the foot.

I think both Brad and I are so overwhelmed by what the Lord is teaching us through this trial. Hopefully I'll get to blog about all of it but one of the things I've experienced is the importance and power of prayer. The Lord has shown me how much I need to be in prayer and intercession for my life, my kids and my husband. With all the changes in our family, some days are very intense here and God is calling me daily to rely on Him at all times. The truth many days I've failed to so and find myself trying to do things in my own strength. I am not one to blame the devil for every little thing but this has been a spiritual battle and I have been convicted about putting the armor of God first thing in the morning. I am thankful for a God who doesn't give up on me and His Spirit in me that calls me back to total surrender. And the peace that comes from knowing that you have laid it all down before the Lord in prayer and that now the outcome is in His hands is amazing.

I have also seen first hand how as brothers and sisters in Christ we can comfort each other through prayer and God's Word. There has been days when I feel like I can't do this and that's when I get a phone call or text or message on Facebook from a friend asking me how things are going or to let me know they still pray for me every night. Or I get an unexpected package on the mail. Or a word of encouragement through the lecture at BSF. Or a reality check from a podcast I just happen to listen that day. Or someone at the FIAR message boards says they've been thinking about me that day.

With all honestly, the goodness of the Lord in my life and the love of His people for us is what has kept me going through. So thank you so much to all of you who are praying and please continue to pray for us.

It is our prayer (Brad's and I) that through this trial we will become better followers of Jesus...better spouses, better parents (been tested a lot on this one lately!), better servants.

I will have a follow up visit with my neurologist in 2 weeks so I'll update again after that.