A Life of Gratitude

 On this Easter Sunday, I am grateful for freedom! While we typically focus a little too much on eggs and bunnies, Easter is all about our POWERFUL God! And Jesus' death and resurrection are all about freedom! Freedom from the sin that so easily entangles us and the death that we deserve. Freedom from the shame and fear that engulfs us. Freedom from the finality of death and loss. Freedom from bondage and guilt and addiction. Freedom from all the burdens of our old lives because Jesus made a way..... because of our Jesus, we have NEW LIFE!! The old has gone and the new has come! There is no reason for us to walk around covered in shame because of our past or fear because of our future. Our mighty God has totally revived us and the power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us! Hallelujah! During our church service this morning, an artist created a large finger painting while the band played worship music. We all sang along and watched this man worship God through creativ

On this Good Friday we spent some time discussing what the cross is really all about. Dylan read the story of Jesus' crucifixion out of the Jesus Storybook Bible and we discussed the truth of this sacrifice. Yes, the men beat Him and spit on Him and whipped Him and nailed Him to the cross but it was JESUS' choice to stay. He could have stopped it all with just one word but He CHOSE to remain there and endure this horrible death because He loves us that much. The verse we unpacked this morning was Luke 23:46. It says, " Jesus called out with a loud voice, 'Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.' When he had said this, he breathed his last." I first read this verse in my quiet time this morning and felt the desire to share it with my boys, to hopefully help them understand that the cross wasn't just something that happened to Jesus. He chose to allow it. He could have stopped it but chose not to. This happened on purpose because He loves us soo

Do a favor for me please....breathe in a huge deep, breath. Feel the oxygen slowly fill up your lungs and cause your chest to rise. Exhale. Do it again. That is the picture God has given me lately to help me truly understand something that I wish I had learned long ago. John 14: 15-17 says,“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you." At church and in our small group, we've been learning about the Holy Spirit.  Throughout my years in church I've never really learned much about the Holy Spirit. I've been very naive about Who this helper is. I'm so grateful to be learning WHO He is!  HE is a person, not an "it." He is fully God. He has all the power of God and Jesus. He is real.  I've been thinkin

Does anyone else feel like Easter just sort of sneaked up on us this year? Our family enjoys celebrating Easter each year and we always begin with dying Easter eggs. This afternoon we spent some time together doing just that! The kids had a lot of fun and made a pretty big mess too! Tyson had the plastic eggs! Tyson looks excited huh?  We made a mess.... The finished product..... Doing our family devotions....such big boys! After we cleaned up the eggs and food coloring, we did the first of our Easter week family devotions. I love that Dylan is old enough to read the scripture for us now. Evan listened to his big brother so intently. Tonight we learned about the last supper. We explained the symbolism of the bread and the wine and discussed how amazing it was that Jesus knew what He was about to endure but chose to do it anyway--that's how much He loves us!  Today I am grateful for family traditions and teachable moments. I always enjoy doing fun

Over the past few days the weather in our area has been absolutely amazing! 70 degrees has to be my favorite temperature! We've been spending lots of time outside which makes all of us very happy, especially Tyson! I've loved seeing so many signs of spring! Flowers and trees, growing grass, our freshly planted garden, birds chirping bright and early, crickets and frogs singing at night, have all brought such gratitude to my heart! This is such a beautiful time of year! Tyson enjoyed helping Daddy mow! He has discovered the sand box!!!  Evan was super excited to have his first icee pop of the season! Our garden boxes!  These brothers play so nice together! Spring has sprung! These are my favorite flower pots! My big boy, Dylan, and me! Today I am thankful for Spring. Its such a lovey reminder of how God makes all things new. I enjoy watching new life sprout all around me! As the world brightens and buds, our smiles seem to widen! Only God could

I spent the evening with my Neighborhood Bible Study group. We had a wonderful time of fellowship and a terrific discussion about God's Word, the Holy Spirit, and how God uses difficult times for good in our lives.  As I walked to my neighbor's house with my Bible and carrot cake cupcakes, I couldn't help but thank God for the sweet dream of having a Neighborhood Bible Study. He placed that dream in my heart well over a year ago and I sort of pushed it away at first because my life is hectic and I didn't think I had time to do it. But God kept asking me to invite my neighbors to my house. So, after talking with 2 neighbors who helped me, I finally did it. One year ago this week! It's so hard for me to believe its been a year!  Today I am thankful for this Bible Study group. I've really enjoyed getting to know these ladies and learning about our great God together! He was right, I did have time for this and now I'm sooooo glad I trusted Him! This has

This evening my boys and I had pancakes for dinner....make that FREE pancakes for dinner! A big thank you to IHOP for giving away their pancakes today! If you knew how much my little guys like pancakes, you'd better understand what a big deal this is! I'm not joking, 15 pancakes were consumed at our table this evening! A free pancake is a happy pancake! Evan and his handsome daddy This little booger loooooooves pancakes! Me and my big guy (he's wearing something odd around his forehead....boys!) Evan got a little bit of chocolate on his face Today I am grateful for free food and family time. I love when places give away free food, like IHOP and the free pancakes, Chick-fil-a having the "dress like a cow" day and giving away free chicken, Krispy Kreme and the Pirate Doughnuts. It's pretty awesome that these places would give away so much free food! It's so much fun and gives us an excuse to go out to dinner as a family (which we w

We've been enjoying the nicer weather the past couple of days!!! This afternoon while the baby was napping and our biggest boy was playing a game, we decided to hang out beside our pond and do a little fishing. Evan had to bring a bunch of swords and his knight costume out also because he is my protector! We caught 6 fish and had a whole lot of fun just spending time together. We don't often get time alone with each child since we're all home together all of the time so it was a real treat to spend some special time with Evan. He is a hoot! He is so much fun to be around! Bringing all his swords and his fishing rod! Mommy and Evan in our boots My knight in shining armor Such a fun afternoon! Catch and release, of course! I got one! Today I am grateful for one-on-one time with Evan. I love doing special things with each of my boys because I get to see things about them that I don't notice when everyone else is around. While we were outs

"By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days."  Hebrews 11:20 Life has been a little crazy. I have a lot going on and a lot of things have happened that I really don't understand. I've had questions and doubts but thankfully, my God is big enough to handle that whirlwind of thoughts and emotions! While I've been pouring my heart out to Him, He has been faithful to help me change my perspective and to remind of me of several truths that I already know but my weary heart so quickly forgets. As I did a Bible lesson with my boys today, God taught me as much as He taught them (maybe more!) We learned about Joshua and the crazy battle plan God gave him. My fellas love discussing battle plans so this was right up their alley, that's really why I chose to do this activity with them. God knew, however, that this was exactly what I needed to hear today.  It may be hard to tell but they made a picture o