Easter reminder

I came downstairs early this morning to a card and my favorite candy sitting on the counter, left by my wonderful husband. The past few weeks and months have had their challenges for us and I have felt weary often. This card spoke such wonderful reminders to me, and along with the rich worship at church this morning, I felt refreshed by the gospel truths today. Here are a few lines which Dave wrote:

"He is risen! Such good news for all of us. We truly need a risen, triumphant and grace dispensing Savior King.

Grateful today that He is risen because we are no longer dead in our sins but have been made alive together with Him, and hope is not going to disappoint us. Hope for sins power to be powerless, hope for Christ's righteousness to clothe us, hope for His living and active Word which we believe to penetrate and make our daughters new creations, hope that one day anxious toil will cease, there will be no more sin, pain, or suffering; all wrongs will be made right, all things will be made new 'and the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known.' "

When I have been at my lowest points over the last few years, facing the storms of life, it is ALWAYS and only the gospel and rich truths of the Word which restore and strengthen my weak heart. How often I turn to and look to other things to bring rest to my soul, but it's always futile. I'm grateful for Easter today, which has reminded me of our Risen Savior and the hope that He has secured for us, even amidst the fierce storms in life.

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A sweet and bitter providence

"Life is a winding and troubled road, switchback after switchback, and the point of biblical stories is to help us feel in our bones, not just know in our heads that God is for us in all these strange turns. The life of the godly is not a straight line to glory, it's more like a dark and seemingly unknown trail through the mountains. There are rock slides and slippery curves and hairpin turns that make you go backward in order to go forward. But along this hazardous, twisted road that doesn't let you see very far ahead, and may even make you feel like you've been lead to the edge of a cliff, God gives us encouragement and hope that all the perplexing turns in our lives are going somewhere good. Often when we think God is farthest from us or has even turned against us, the truth is that he is laying the foundation for greater happiness in our lives. God is plotting for our joy, he is plotting the course and managing the troubles with far reaching purposes for our good and for the glory of Jesus Christ. That is a sweet and bitter providence." - John Piper

....I'm looking forward to reading this book.

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A big move

One of the most monumental events of the past few months was my mom selling her home and moving in with us. She had lived in her home for almost 33 years! It's the only home I remember growing up as I was barely 2 when we moved there. So, it was bittersweet to say good bye to it. But it's been our desire since we moved to one day have mom live with us so it's exciting to see this become a reality. God was kind in that she put her house on the market in February and 3 weeks later had it completely sold and settled.

A number of weeks ago we all went over there for one last dinner and to say good bye to the house. It felt strange, but yet the same to be there. I was not feeling well that night and brought my camera. I remember sitting on the couch after dinner and the last thing I wanted to do was get up and walk around and take pictures. But I made myself do it! I didn't take many, just a few to remember the old place by.

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A reason for the silence

This...



little bitty baby has caused his or her mamma to be very very sick for the past few months.

I gave up blogging and much of my life on the computer (actually much of anything but the very slim basics of life) for a few months until I started to turn a corner. And we are starting to turn...but slowly. However, I can now actually manage to do some things in the evening, where before all I could do was lay on the couch with my eyes closed, hoping to keep down my dinner, until it was time to crawl upstairs and into bed.

I feel very behind in a lot of things now and trying to strategize how to catch up a bit. BUT, we are incredibly excited for this little surprise that the Lord has brought into our lives.

I'm almost 15 weeks and due on September 28...just 2 days after Alivia's birthday.

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