Trust

Sundays are such a great day for me. I love preparing to go to church. "How do you prepare to go to church? Don't you just show up?" you say. Well, for me it means getting my heart and mind in the right place. It's a place that puts me second and God first. Growing up my Dad would always play music in the morning. I guess he got me in the habit of it and now I continue it. This morning I was listening to my Wow hymns (I've been in the hymn mode lately). Two songs really hit me this morning which means God was talking to me. The first one is called "'Tis So Sweet To Trust in Jesus". The idea is that we have nothing to fret or worry about because God is trustworthy. I really struggle with this concept. I find that my life has given me some hurtful moments that I have blamed fully on God. In my heart I have decided that God is not trustworthy, yet my mind knows differently. The chorus convicted me to the utmost. "Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him! How I've proved him over and over." I began to think of all the times that God has pulled me through. I began to think how many times he has protected me from some crazy things, how he has been with me, and will be with me to the very end. (praise Jesus) He is trustworthy.
Then to continue on this thought, He showed me why He is trustworthy. I listened to the song "There is a Fountain". I am going to put the words here because they are so powerful.

There is a fountain filled with blood
Drawn from Immanuel's veins;
And sinners, plunged beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains:

The dying thief rejoiced to see
That fountain in his day;
And there may I, though vile as he,
Wash all my sins away:

E'er since by faith I saw the stream
Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die:

After this last verse I fell to the floor in awe and praise of Jesus. In the middle of my kitchen, I sat weeping because His blood pardoned my sins. He redeemed me. I was a vile person like the prisoner on the cross next to Jesus, but just like the thief I have been forgiven because of the blood shed there on the cross. Folks, that is good news. We can live because of his death. He gave it up for us. Who in your life has done that? Who has denied himself or herself to the point of death that you may live the life of your choice? I can think of none other than Jesus. He is the constant in my life. He is the one that I can depend on. So I am going to keep trusting God even when it seems like He is untrustworthy because he has redeemed me, saved me from destruction of my own design. I came away from today knowing more of God's love for me in a very real way. My prayer for you is that you too will know that same love and experience the peace and joy that passes all understanding due to that amazing love. He loves you more than you can ever imagine and He will continue to love you no matter what you are or what you do. Nothing can change His love for you.

Ready for Spring

So I have a friend who is very creative with her boys and I love what she does. She did this project with her little guys so I decided we would do it too.

Materials: Dirt pellets sold at Walmart for $6 per 72

seed packets (your choice, we did flowers and vegetables)

We were amazed at how quickly things grew. This is a picture of our seedlings after just one week of being planted.

Old Body

More than ever I am realizing that I am getting old. Now some of you may say, "What!?! You're crazy." But really. Being pregnant for the 4th time is doing me in. I have never been so tired in my life. I find that little tasks tend to be too much for me. If it doesn't get done in the morning we can bet that it most likely won't get done. I can hardly wait to be done with this first trimester. I am ready to have some energy to get my life back in order meaning getting the laundry done, keeping the house clean, and the millions of other things that need to get done. That is also the reason why I haven't blogged, but I do have pictures to post and they will be coming soon. 10 weeks and 30 more to go.... oi vey!

Atchison in Process

Announcing Baby #4. It has been hard to keep a secret and yet some people already know, but we are going to be expecting our fourth child on or around October 12th of this year. So to answer your questions. No, it was not planned. Yes, we are very excited after the initial shock of it all. Yes, this is the last for us.

Long time over due

On February 8th our family had a big day. We started off the day with Avery singing at Magnolia Avenue Baptist Church which is where he goes on Wednesday nights to missions and music. He was picked to do a solo out of all the 1st and 2nd graders. He did a great job (perhaps the best). We were really proud of him.

Then we sent to Sandals which is where we attend to take part in Asher's Baby Dedication. This is a time where we as a family commit to raising our child to know who God is and also with the love that He gives. The church also commits to come along side us and help us in this task. As a parent the greatest struggle is wanting to raise your children up to be good citizens, but also to be lovers of the Almighty. My prayer for all my boys is that they love God in the gifts they were given whatever that may look like.