Jesus rose from the grave and we visited a zoo, all in one weekend- kinda

     On Saturday morning, Peyton visited the zoo for the first time!  He did a great job.  We made the mistake of going to the part of the zoo where you can pet and feed the animals first.  From there on, he thought he could pet and feed every animal... including lemurs, lions, and monkeys!  I had to stop him several times from climbing over the fence.  He's a wild (or typical?) 15 month old.

Easter was super busy.  We went to church early, but stayed for the second service to serve in the children ministry.  Peyton was beat by the time we left and took a long nap when we got home.  Later we ate dinner with my family to celebrate.

I don't think people really get the importance of Easter sometimes.  Brandon and I have debated whether or not to teach Peyton about the Easter bunny.  I think because there's really no connection that can be made between the Easter bunny and the Resurrection of Jesus, we probably won't be telling him that a bunny brings him his basket.  It's not like he's asked yet :-) so, we'll see how it goes. 

Peyton had a rough night Saturday... so he woke up in our bed Easter morning.

  I hope Peyton grows up to understand how much Jesus loves him.  So much so that he died on a cross for our sins.  I want him to know that Easter solidified our place in heaven as long as Peyton chooses to believe in Jesus and follow Him.  Jesus rose from the grave and proved to all those who doubted him, that he IS the Messiah.  He is the son of God and he has given us all HOPE beyond this temporary life.  Unfortunately, the Easter bunny just doesn't really fit in.  But, no one said we can't celebrate with baskets and goodies :-)  We'll cross that other bridge when we get to it.  HAPPY EASTER!

 

What a difference a year makes!

when the night has come and the land is dark

     Where you go, I’ll go and where you stay, I’ll stay comes from one of my favorite stories in the Bible.  If you don’t know the story behind it, let me tell you…

     A long time ago there was a woman named Naomi.  She was married to Elimelek and they had two sons named Mahlon and Kilion.  The lived in Bethlehem, Judah but went to live in the country of Moab after a famine struck the land.  Unfortunately, Elimelek died, so Naomi was left alone with her sons.  They each married Moabite women.  These ladies were named Orpah (not Oprah) and Ruth.

     After ten..ish years, Naomi’s sons Mahlon and Kilion also died.  At this point she was left with only her daughters-in-law.  Around this time, Naomi heard that God had aided the people of Judah by giving them food.  She planned to return to Judah with her daughters-in-law.

     As they set off to go, Naomi said to her daughters-in-law 

“Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home.  May the LORD show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me.  May the LORD grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.”

     Hearing this, they cried and reassured Naomi that they would go with her.  But, Naomi said “Return home, my daughters.  Why would you come with me?  Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands?”

 

     The girls cried again.  Orpah kissed Naomi and said goodbye.  But Ruth didn’t.  Naomi urged Ruth again to go.  Ruth turned to Naomi and said...

“Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you.  Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay.  Your people will be my people and your God my God.  Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried.  May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.”

At that Ruth and Naomi walked on to Bethlehem.

As the story continues, Ruth goes on to marry again.  She marries a man named Boaz and has a son.  Her son is Obed.  Obed becomes the father of Jesse and Jesse becomes the father of David.

This leads me to the About Me section of my blog.  As I said, I want the kind of faith and loyalty that Ruth had.  She refused to turn her back on Naomi, which ultimately lead to her becoming the great-grandmother of King David.

She didn't do what was easy.

She wasn’t afraid to do what she felt in her heart was right. 

 

She didn’t allow the pursuit of her own happiness to get in the way of what God called on her for.

   

She put someone else before herself.  

I hope to be that strong.

my name is written on your hands

     Sometimes you hear something or read something and you're like "that's exactly what I needed to hear!"  So that's what I was thinking today.  Lately I've really been trying to minimize my wants and appreciate what I already have.  I'm not always successful so don't think I'm trying to be all preachy about what you need to do.... it's easier said than done.  To help me out... I've been praying on Matthew 6: 19-21 which says:

 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

I want to want less.  I don't want my heart to be tied to the material things I have.  Those things should not matter or have the hold on me that they often can.  Material goods should enhance my life.. they should not be my life or make me stressed in life.  I often want "things" because I'm convinced that whatever it is will fill the need I'm feeling... even when there's really no need at all.  When I pray on Matthew 6: 19-21, I remind myself that everything on this Earth is the Lord's.  None of it is mine- really, it's on loan to me.  Even the things that I "earned" with my money, or my intelligence, or my hard work are not mine at all.  It is God who gave me the ability to do everything I do.  I'm reminded of that in Psalms 24: 1

"The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it"

I was reminded of this... actually slapped in the face with "why the heck didn't anyone say this to me sooner because it is the truth!"  when I read a post on one of my favorite blogs today.  The blog post (oh, sorry. i thought that was mine.) was about how the blogger's daughter had to go to the emergency room.. but it was about more than that.  It made her realize that she didn't have control- that God was in control.  Even more than that... it helped her remember that her baby girl was not hers.  

Just like Psalms 24:1 says "... and all who live in it."  Not just the material things, not just the house and car and clothes and stuff... but the people too.  It's hard to wrap your mind around that fact.  

Jami (aka the blogger from my favorite blog) said it perfectly "it's hard to love something so much and realize you can't control the outcome of their lives. or even their days" then she asked such an important question... "why does it make me sad that i can't control their lives? because i think i'm better than God..."  Of course she doesn't.  Of course I don't- but why then do I act like it so often.  I choose to place my faith and my trust and my hope in the Gospel.  It doesn't mean it's easy but I choose to trust Him with my life and Peyton's.

On that note... here's my favorite song from church this past Sunday (Counting on Your Name by Tim Hughes)

the fruit of the Spirit is love...

     So what did I learn in growth group this week... well it's kind of funny how things work out.  Last week I really wanted to be a "yes kinda girl," which makes me think of this note I have saved on Pinterest...

however, I wasn't sure exactly how I would know that God was talking to me so that I could say yes to Him.  Well, I guess Lysa anticipated that others would be wondering the same thing and so.. she spelled it out for us.  She said there are 5 questions that help us know if God is speaking to us.  The 5 questions are:

1.  Does what I'm hearing line up with Scripture?
2.  Is what I'm hearing consistent with God's character?
3. Is what I'm hearing being confirmed through other messages?
4. Is what I'm hearing beyond me?
5.  Would what I'm hearing please God?

We read several Bible verses that relate to each question and discussed the meaning in relation to recognizing God's voice.  This was extremely helpful.  I decided that question 2 and question 5 were most helpful to me in discerning whether or not what I think is God's nudge actually is.  I especially was drawn to question 2... which we related back to Galatians 5: 22-23, which says:

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 

This quote acts as a wonderful summary of God's character.  If there is ever a time that I think I am supposed to be doing something but it doesn't align with or bring about any of these characteristics in myself, well then I'll know it can't be God.  Each day I'm more and more excited to experience the amazing things that God decides to do in my life.  I know he's active in my life everyday.  Hopefully with time I'll learn to be more aware of it all.

For info on the study visit: http://lysaterkeurst.com/what-happens-when-women-say-yes-to-god-participants-guide/

saying Yes can be hard

     I recently joined a growth group at my church called What Happens When Women Say Yes to God.  It's based on a book and video series (which goes by the same name) by Lysa TerKeurst.  Each week, I'll try to blog a little about what I learned from the group that week.  This is meant for me to remember and for you (any of you reading) to help hold me accountable.  This will be short and sweet (i hope)...

This week I learned:

It's important to try to always say "yes" to the things that God asks of us.  Lysa wrote something that I noted as important... "I just kept wondering, How many times have I told You no, God?  How many times because I was too tired, too insecure, too uncertain, too busy, or too selfish have I walked right past Your divine appointment for me and missed experiencing You..."

Lysa stressed how important it is to hear God and do what it is he is asking of you.  I haven't completely learned to "hear" God, but I think it's more of that feeling you get when you know you should be doing something, or shouldn't be doing something.  I tend to ignore that feeling because often I feel that I know what's best and I like being in control, but ultimately Lysa says "being a woman who says yes to God means making the choice to trust Him even when you can't understand why He requires some of the things He does."

If I have concerns about the things that I feel God telling me to do.. I will remember Psalm 16:7-9

I will bless the Lord who guides me; even at night my heart instructs me.  I know the Lord is always with me.  I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.  No wonder my heart is filled with joy, and my mouth shouts his praises!  My body rests in safety.

Lastly...

My personal prayer for commitment:

I promise to do my best to say yes to God in every situation.  I promise to work to set my rules and agendas aside and follow God's commands.  I ask that God gives me the courage to follow Him without hesitation.



To read more about Lysa TerKeurst and her Bible series What Happens When Women Say Yes to God click on the image below to be redirected to her page.

tomorrow will worry about itself

     I was so excited to start this blog.  I wanted to document EVERYTHING so that one day Peyton could read it.  For many this probably seems unnecessary, but to me it's not.  I've been so blessed my entire life.  I've never dealt with death, loss of any kind, sickness, nothing.  I'm relatively well adjusted (depending on who you ask) :-) I try to see the good in every situation.  I don't like to dwell on negative things.  So... I feel that I've lived my 26 years pretty stress free.  Lately, I've had this obnoxious feeling that God is preparing me for something and it scares me because I know I have no control over what it is.  I try to dismiss the feeling as me just being paranoid and overly worried as I tend to be, but I don't know.  (That is a flaw of mine- I worry.  I try not to, because I truly feel that when I worry it's as if I'm saying "I don't trust you- Jesus."  And I do.)  But this is why I wanted to start this blog- because I am OVERLY AWARE of how precious and unpredictable life is. 

   On that note...this week has been a longgg week... (and the funny thing is it's technically been a short week *Monday holiday).  On Tuesday, I signed up for a graduate course that I need to take for a program I am completing.  Unfortunately I have to take it through University of Phoenix and it's only three weeks long!  I guess it's kind of a good thing that it's so short, but it's a lot of work and I am NOT looking forward to it.  I AM, however, looking forward to 3 and half weeks from now when it will be over!  Then, on Wednesday I started a new growth group at my church, which is like a small group Bible study.  I signed up for one this semester called "What happens when women say yes to God."  And I'm pretty excited about that too, but I find myself hesitating in my excitement because of the s-t-r-e-s-s of regular life.  Now work... well, work is just work.  Some days are great and some days I get cussed out and threatened by adolescents on their way to adulthood (which is scary).  I could have used many more adjectives to describe these adolescents, but I won't because deep down I do really care about them and I do really care about my job.. so I will refrain from any negative adjectives that I may have been thinking that of course I wasn't thinking. These things all mixed together (along with normal child rearing, housekeeping, finance, lack of time, etc. issues)  are causing some serious s-t-r-e-s-s in my belly.  So... I'm writing it all down here.  I will cast all my anxieties on Him.. and try to relax (after I grade some papers, read Chapter 1 of my growth group book, and respond to the 13+ emails I've gotten from University of Phoenix regarding my class- seriously its getting out of control)...No, no!  I won't do those things- tonight.  I'll do them tomorrow, and I won't worry about tomorrow because "tomorrow will worry about itself."

So... If you're a worrier like me... maybe this will help...

Click image to find source:  http://www.joyshope.com/2011_07_01_archive.html

Or if you're a little unsure about Jesus.. Here's a little Bob.  He's not the same as Jesus.. but he definitely is making a point.