childlike faith.

Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive and accept and welcome the kingdom of God like a little child does positively shall not enter it at all.

Mark 10:15 (Amplified Bible)

Watching this little guy and his amazement for life has caused me to look more closely at this verse. Yet another way he challenges me to draw closer to the Lord without even realizing it. 

Lord, please help me to have a childlike faith until the day I see You face to face.

the love of God.

When I think of the wisdom and scope of God's plan, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father,
the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will give you mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit.

And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love.

And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Ephesians 3:14-19 (NLT)

Find a cozy spot, grab your Bible and a cup of coffee, and soak up the love of God as you watch this video.

Oh, that we would KNOW we are loved by the Almighty God and LIVE like we believe it...
May you be encouraged today no matter what you are facing this week.

mirror mirror on the wall.

{For every look at yourself, take ten looks at Christ.}

Robert Murray M'Cheyne

I ran across this teaching today and wanted to share part of it with you. It's a completely different message than what the world is telling us, because it is a message of Truth. It's a message of freedom.

So if the Son sets you free, you will indeed be free. (John 8:36)

The call to the Christian life is not a call to “turn over a new leaf” or working at becoming a better person, but acknowledging our imperfection. To say, “I am flawed," and allowing the Spirit of Christ to transform us into His likeness as we gaze upon Him.


Don't live in discouragement. Don't live in failure. Yes, recognize that we are failures. The point is not to convince each other you're a really good person. The point is to realize and remind each other you really are a failure. You are a sinner. You are imperfect; you are flawed.
But look at Christ. He is perfect. As we consider and look at the moral perfection, the beauty of Christ, we will respect Him. We will worship Him. We will love Him more. We will want to know Him more intimately. We will want to tell others about Him.

We become more and more like Him, then we will reflect His beauty.

As a girl who fights to not expect the reflection in the mirror to be what the world is telling me I should be, I can't be reminded enough to just "look at Christ." In Him alone is where joy, peace, patience, satisfaction, and true beauty are found.

In Christ alone, we are set free. The more we see and know Jesus, the more accurate our understanding of beauty would be.

Praying we would all look at Jesus today and reflect Him to the world.

cherish the days.

this little man seems to be growing up so fast.

too fast.

he has gotten super cuddly lately. big sloppy kisses while he squeezes my face.

he sits contently on our laps and reads books until we just can't read anymore.

he has developed a love for animals.

dogs, cows, horses, pigs, frogs, sheep, roosters, snakes.

we can't even go to the grocery store without him breaking out into animal noises

everytime he spots a picture of an animal. if he gets so excited at the grocery store,

i can only imagine what he'll do at brookfield zoo this summer.

he's constantly on the move and quite proud of being a walking man.

the majority of the time you can find him carrying a ball around trying to recruit someone to play with him. every night as we finish dinner he starts saying, "ball. ball. ball." pointing to the bathroom where he has a miniature basketball hoop in the tub. daddy has gladly taken over bathtime duties.

i think it's a highlight of the day for both of them.

we praise God for the gift of raising this little boy. he is indeed a gift.

Lord, help us to cherish the days and make each one count for Your glory.

beautiful you.

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For you are a chosen people.
You are a kingdom of priests, God's holy nation, his very own possession.
This is so you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness
into his wonderful light.
1 Peter 2:9

Would you please pray for this special Beautiful You event?

And I ask God to show you personally that you are chosen.

You are treasured.

You are loved.

You are beautiful.

stuck like glue.

Let me borrow the words of Sugarland...

stuck like glue. you and me, baby, we're stuck like glue.

you do that thing that makes me laugh and just like that.

there you go making my heart beat again.

and I know I'm never letting this go.

I'm stuck on you.

it's true.

i am 'stuck like glue' to this man. and there is no one else i'd rather be 'stuck' to. : )

through thick and thin. good days and bad days. ups and downs. sickness and health.

'i do' brought with it a permanent adhesive. we stepped onto sacred ground. the God of the universe - the same One who made both of us, 'stuck' us together forever. never to be broken apart.

this is a crazy, serious commitment. not a lovely-dovey fairytale jump of 'feeling' in love. rather, a truly tenacious, devoted commitment to follow the Lord Jesus Christ in this relationship called marriage which He designed to be a reflection of our relationship with Him.

i've got to be honest, i'm married to a good man. a real good man.

disciple of Jesus Christ first and foremost :

servant : encourager : joyful : commited : unconditionally loving :

glass half full : tender : strong : quick to say sorry : hardworker : storyteller :

handsome : student of God's Word : faithful : funny : contagious smile :

developer of gifts in others : incredibly gifted at engaging others : generous : best friend

this list could go on and on. he makes me want to be better.

having spent our sixth Valentine's Day together and approaching our fifth wedding anniversary, i realize 'we've only just begun' the journey of marriage. but i do find the list of 'good things' about my husband continuing to grow.

sure, we have hard seasons, but it takes the hard things to deepen our relationship and grow our love.

"count it joy when you fall into various trials." (james 1:2)

marriage is hard work and certainly under attack, so let's commit to not only praying for our own marriage, but also the marriages of others.

and for those who are not married, yet it is a desire of your heart, pray for your future husband.

pray for your future marriage.

pray for God to be your first Love.

pray for God to be everything to you, because no matter what your relationship status is God alone will satisfy you.

enjoy your relationship with God and all He is doing in your life.

then wait with great expectation.

don't compromise. don't settle.

wait upon the Lord. and He will do GREAT things.

that is the testimony of what God has done in my life.

i'm so thankful for all God has done and for the man i'm 'stuck like glue' to.

great responsibility. great privilege.

Kids don’t remember what you try to teach them.
They remember what you are.

— Jim Henson

What a responsibility.

What a privilege.

Lord, give us the grace to raise our little ones to love you with all their heart.

And transform us in the process, so they are able to see You in us.

Thank you for the gift of this great responsibility and great privilege.

keeping the bathroom door closed.

We recently learned what happens when the bathroom door is left open.

Look at that face? How could you not capture this ornery little moment on camera?

I won't mention the other thing I found him doing even more recently when the door was accidentally left open again.

Let's just say Elijah must be getting ready for summer pool time. And no, he wasn't in the bathtub.

Gross. Gross. Gross.

shoot some hoops.

It was a special day.
About the end of February it arrived.
I'm not sure who was more excited...daddy or elijah.
After getting it all put together, the memory-making began.

For some reason, it has become a centerpiece in the living room. Obviously, mommy is outnumbered.
2 boys. 1 girl.
Guess I should get used to it.

It looks like a love for the game has begun. : )

more abundantly.

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.
I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
john 10:10

  
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My heart breaks for the lives of those I watch who are stuck in the beginning of this verse. I know all too well what it is like to be stuck there...probably why it breaks my heart so much.

I'm so thankful the verse doesn't stop it's journey after the first sentence. And I praise God he didn't stop my journey there either. Jesus came to literally breath life into me (and you) and for it to be an abundant life.

Not a perfect life.

Not an always happy, super-duper life.

Not an easy life.

But an abundant life.

As I look in the rearview mirror of life and then look forward at the days ahead, I can honestly say without Jesus, I can do nothing (john 15:5). Literally, NO - thing.

But with Jesus, I can do ALL things (philippians 4:13).

And there we find the secret to an abundant life.

Can't help but sing one of my favorite old hymns...

My hope is built on nothing less

than Jesus' blood and righteousness.

I dare not trust the sweetest frame,

but wholly lean on Jesus' name.

On Christ the solid rock I stand,

all other ground is sinking sand.

All other ground is sinking sand.

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As we all await spring, may we flourish in the abundant life God intended for us.
Remember, you're not on this journey alone!