dedication day.

What a sweet day February 14th was for our family.

(yes I'm late in posting this too...)

We were back at our church in Indiana to have Elijah formally dedicated. It's impossible to fully describe why the day meant so much to us, but Greg and I have said that it will stand out as one of those precious days where the Lord just blessed us over and over again.

Our pastor, who also married us, commissioned Greg and I to raise Elijah in a way that would cause him to desire to follow after Jesus too.

Elijah was wide-awake and happy for the dedication, but here he found a little time for a nap between being loved on and held again. (Oh, I pray he always knows how incredibly loved he is.) We had a wonderful day of fellowship over delicious food.

And spent the day celebrating with our parents, siblings, mentors, and dear friends.

By the end of the day, we were completely blown away by God's incredible love for us.

my valentine.

2.2010 029, originally uploaded by gregandkateanderson.

(This is a bit late, but too important to not post.)

I praise God for my precious husband. God is constantly showing His love for me through Greg. I never knew I could admire, respect, cherish, and love another like I do him. The Lord still waits for you to come to Him so He can show you His love and compassion. For the Lord is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for Him to help them. Isaiah 30:18 I'm so thankful I waited on the Lord to bring me my husband.

How gracious God is to me.

four months.

Yesterday, Elijah turned four months old. He now weighs 15 pounds and 4 ounces and is 25 inches long. My, how quickly he is growing up!

He loves chewing on his tongue and anything else he can put into his mouth. Doesn't he look funny doing this?

We are quite often told to "enjoy him because the years will go by so quickly." The past four months have almost been like a blink of an eye, but thankfully we've been learning so much and enjoying each day. We pray for God to continue giving us wisdom and help us savor each day. This is the day the Lord has made.

We will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalms 118:24

silence. truth. freedom.

You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

John 8:32

Last week, the Lord really blessed me through Henry Blackaby's words in his Experiencing God study. Have you ever gone through a time when God seemed silent? You have been praying for days. As far as you can tell, sin isn't getting in the way. You can't quite understand the silence. If you've ever experienced this, maybe Blackaby's response will encourage you like it did me.

You can respond to the silence of God in two ways. One response is for you to go into depression, a sense of guilt, and self-condemnation. The other response is for you to have an expectation that God is about to bring you to a deeper knowledge of Himself. These responses are as different as night and day.

Do you know what set me free? Truth. And, Truth is a Person who is actively involved in my life. The moment that I understood what God might have been doing, I made an adjustment of my life to God. I quit feeling that maybe I was of no use to God and that He wouldn't hear me anymore. I made the major adjustment in my life to an attitude of expectation, faith, and trust. The moment I did that, God began to show me how I could respond to Him in such a way that I would know Him in a greater way.

I pray that Truth would set you free! He is so faithful.

superbowl.

go colts, go!

beat the saints!

colts are #1

(look closely, elijah's holding up his finger saying #1.)

living in chicago, he's learned to be discreet when revealing his football team allegiance. he's a faithful little colts fan already.

so funny.

what is so funny?

now that elijah is giggling, we find ourselves laughing even more than usual.

his little laugh is just the cutest thing.

he gives mom sweet smirks and chuckles,

but saves the real belly laughs for daddy.

this is a picture capturing one of his first real laughs.

"He will fill your mouth with laughter

and your lips with shouts of joy."

Job 8:21

much to discover.

hi guys! (this is elijah talking)

now that i'm almost 4 months old, i'm having a blast discovering the world around me.

mom and dad tell me that it can be a scary world at times,

but Jesus can transform my life and use me to be a bright light.

not that i fully understand what that means yet, but i'm sure they'll explain more along the way.

hey, what are you looking at?

are you staring at my belly?!

mom has me on a healthy, well-balanced diet and dad is already helping me with my exercises.

so it's just my handsome, baby physique.

go ahead and stare, but i'm perfectly happy with the way God made me.

big belly and all.

anyways....as I was saying. i'm having a blast. my hands are absolutely fascinating to me. i look at them so closely and still can hardly believe they are mine. i recently decided it would be fun to pass time chewing on them and sticking them in my mouth. what, mom? oh, mom wanted me to also tell you i've been fighting my naptime lately. i try to tell her there's just so much to see and do now that i've simply no time to nap. she's pretty persistent though. guess i should quit giving her such a hard time and just sleep. hey, we're all learning here. well friends, it's been fun hanging out. thanks for stopping by to visit. i hope you're having as much fun discovering life as i am.