Happy 19th Birthday Justin

Wow!  It seems like just yesterday that we welcomed you into our lives.......I'll spare everyone the details of each precious moment :-)  Having a baby is an incredible gift and there are such special and fond memories of you Justin.  We waited oh so long and were so thankful when you came into our lives.  You are a special young man now and we enjoy being your parents.  Your tender spirit and caring ways are a joy to us! We celebrate you and the person that God has created!  We love you tremendously!

With all our love, 

Dad and Mom

Ahhh......such wonderful memories!

Happy Birthday Jus!

Happy Birthday Jon

Today was our dear youngest sons birthday!  What a blessing to spend the day celebrating a life that God created and knitted together.  Every time we celebrate a birthday in our home it reminds us that each one of us are fearfully and wonderfully made by God.  It's a time to reflect on the gift that God has given and to be thankful!  

We began our day by having a special breakfast out......it was very good and very fun.  At dinner as we were waiting for our guests we were asking Jon if he minded waiting and he said......no, it's not about the cake anyhow it's just good to have fellowship.  Wise words from a 7 year old.  I will have to remember that myself....it's not about the stuff it's about the fellowship.  

One of his biggest joy's was that his older brother called and had the whole team sing to him.  He smiled ear to ear.....thanks Justin!

Happy Birthday Jonathan!  We Love You! 

Too cute!  Where does the time go?  Life is truly a vapor!

No Greater Joy

3 John 1-4

The elder unto the well beloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth. 

Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.

For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth. 

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

This morning I was meditating on these verses.  God's Word is so incredible.  Perhaps it's because our first born has been traveling away from us for the first time or since God has worked in my heart as a parent this has been my desire: that my children walk in truth.  I can remember praying this for my children since they were little. This is an action word, walk.   There comes a time, when God chooses, that they have to walk.  We cannot do it for them  and when they do it brings my heart great joy.  The other thing I noticed about this passage was in verse 2.  The desire or wish is that we may prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.  This tells me the soul can prosper without physical prospering because of the Lord.  Paul said God's grace was sufficient for him even when the thorn in his flesh was not removed and it is sufficient for me today.  I have been amazed at how well we have all done with J leaving for the summer.  I know that it is only God's grace because we love being together.  It has also been such a blessing to hear from afar how the Lord is working in his life and that he is walking in truth.  Now don't get me wrong..there have been tears shed and many prayers gone up but God has been faithful.  

HOLINESS

I read this post on a blog that I follow this morning. It was such an encouragement to me that I wanted to pass it on. So with permission of the blogger for lifeinskunkhollow.blogspot.com (thanks Julie) I am passing this on. My prayer is that it encourages you in your walk with our Lord.

Holiness

"I learned early on that to be "set apart" is not a punishment; it is not an attempt on God's part to deprive us or to condemn us to a cheerless, joyless lifestyle. It is a priceless privilege - it is a call

* to belong, to be cherished, to enter into an intimate love relationship with God Himself, much as a groom declares his intent to set his bride apart from all other women to be his beloved wife

* to fit into the grand, eternal plan of our redeeming God for this universe

* to experience the exquisite joys and purposes for which we were created

* to be freed from all that destroys our true happiness."

". . . Sooner or later, sin will strip and rob you of everything that is truly beautiful and desirable. If you are a child of God, you were redeemed to enjoy the sweet fruit of holiness - to walk in oneness with your heavenly Father, to relish His presence, to rejoice in His mercy, to know the joy of having clean hands, a pure heart, and a clear conscience, and one day, to stand before Him unashamed. Why settle for anything less?"

-- Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Holiness - The Heart God Purifies

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

A New Year!  As I was meditating on the New Year yesterday I had this thought.  The Lord is eternal, yet He gave us time.  Each moment can be new.........a new second, a new minute, a new hour, a new day, and a new year.  It reminded me of what the Lord says heaven will be like....everything will be as new and as a person that is born again the scripture says " all things are become as new".  I wonder if God in His grace and mercy gave us the opportunity to take time to evaluate and put the "old" things away and begin the new?  Whatever it may be it is a blessing and we can bask in God's goodness to us for His mercies are "new" every morning!  We truly have a wonderful Savior!